Masked Intent
by AisteachSam
Summary: When an immortal lays his eyes on a girl in the leaf village he thinks nothing of her. Until she starts getting in his head... Will he cave to his desires to have the woman for his own? and how will he win such a girl over? MadaxOC TobixOC M for lemons
1. Obsession

Once again the heavens released their tears as the rain cascaded down, hitting the roofs of the rain village, but their onslaught of misery did not fail in ensnaring that of a dark cloak. Dark onyx eyes stared out in the village deep in thought. He closed his eyes and sighed as the rain soothed his mind, but a flash of white hair graced his sight beneath his lids. Annoyed with himself he opened them, but the image stuck. A young woman with blue eyes and white hair stood in front of him like a mirage. But then she wasn't a woman, she was struck into a young child no older than three, then she began to grow again until she looked like she was ten, and grew again to her current age of sixteen. He shooed the image of her from his mind. This woman was just a distraction, she was not an underling of his nor was she under his command. She was just a female he happened to keep seeing during his secret visits to Konoha. But for some reason she would find a way into his mind and stay there… sometimes for days on end, and he had no clue as to why.

His mind again flashed to when he first saw her. He sighed and submitted to the memory that wished to come forth.

He was walking the streets of Konoha maybe… twelve or thirteen years ago, gathering information on the Kyubi. He knew he should not go near any houses owned by the Uchiha, but if he happened to find someone who knew where the current Kyubi host was, well that would make his night. He already knew of Kushina and her approaching birth, and also knew about the seal, but he couldn't find that pregnant woman, which put a real damper on his plans.

He sighed and thought to himself; trying to place faces of people that he had seen talking to during the times he came to gather information on the host beneath the village's very nose. He looked on the deserted night street and peeked into a nearby alleyway. It was then he saw a familiar face. It was a man seeming to near his thirties just leaning against the side of the house he assumed belong to him. His hair was white and cropped short. He wore a robe that symbolized that of a clan leader. Casting a simple genjutsu to occupants in the houses on either side of the alley he made sure they were in too deep of a sleep to interfere in case noise was made, then he step into the alley and made his presence known to the man. Once he saw the man's smoky blue eyes he knew which clan the man lead. The Sincera clan was infamous for having light almost whitish hair and a verity of blue eyes for their dominate traits. The Sincera clan leader looked at Madara with surprise.

"Are you the leader of the Sincera clan?" Madara asked just for clarification.

"My name is Makoto Sincera and yes, I am clan leader. Why do you ask?" the man replied.

"Well my name is Madara Uchiha, and I'm currently looking for Kushina Uzumaki, or otherwise known as the Kyubi's host," Madara responded walking closer to the man. Makoto blinked, recognizing that name, and then did an ushering motion to something on the other side of him. Curiously Madara walked closer and saw a young white haired girl behind the man's leg. She looked at the Uchiha with curious and innocent blue eyes as she gripped the pants of her father. Her white hair was lighter than that of the clan leader's and it was tied into two little pigtails on either side of her head. Makoto's shaky breath brought Madara's attention back to him.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about," Makoto replied returning his gaze to Madara.

Madara almost chuckled in amusement. "You don't know? Are you certain of that?"

"Yes," the man replied as he straightened his back and put a hand behind him to keep the little girl close.

"Are you sure you should be lying to me? I'm giving you one chance to tell me Kushina's location willingly or else you may regret it."

"I cannot tell you what I don't know," the man replied stubbornly. Madara activated his sharingan and looked at the Sincera clan leader, but the man had turned his gaze from him. Of course, he would know that looking into Madara's eyes he would be cast under a genjutsu and give the immortal any information he desired.

"Do you fear me Sincera?" he mocked, "Not even able to look me in the eye?"

"I'm not stupid," Makoto muttered, but the next thing the man knew was that Madara was next to him standing between him and the white haired child. "W-When did you-?" but Makoto made the mistake he had been trying to avoid and looked at Madara's mask and straight into the sharingan.

"Daddy? Daddy?" the girl cried, alarmed by being separated from her father and seeing the gazed over look in his eyes. Madara glanced at the child and used a genjutsu to put her to sleep with a genjutsu without a second thought then turned his attention back to her father.

"Now Makoto… tell me where she is," Madara ordered. The man blinked and looked at the Uchiha before he replied.

"I don't know exactly… but Kushina and one of the elders left through the west gate, saying something about being far away from the village and barriers and seals… That's all I know…"

"Good man," he said releasing the genjutsu and letting him fall to the ground unconscious. He pondered for a second then realized where his target must be being kept; he turned to leave but glanced at the small child. She had curled up into a ball a few feet away from her unconscious father; she seemed so scared and alone… Madara blinked in confusion of his own thoughts. Why was he feeling pity for the child? Despite himself he picked her up and moved to place her with her father. When he felt her move against him he almost froze and looked down at her. She was cuddling into his chest with a small smile on her face. Was this child dim? Couldn't she sense his malevolence and power? She was probably in too deep of a sleep to notice anything. Shaking his head he placed the girl next to her father before disappearing into the night. What became of them Madara didn't really care to know, he found his target and released the Kyubi, but because of that meddling 4th Hokage he was stopped before he was able to destroy the village.

The next time he saw the girl was seven years later, in disguise he walked around the forests inside the gates of the leaf village thinking of new ways to seek his vengeance against the Uchiha. He heard a familiar clashing of metal nearby. He smirked and walked to it masking his presence, the familiar sounds of two ninjas training greeted him as he peeked out at a clearing. He saw one with long raven hair and the other with white hair clashing their kunai knives together then breaking apart. He blinked recognizing the white haired female's face as she stared down her opponent panting. It was the same girl he had held for information years ago, only not so small and innocent anymore. Her hair was held back in a high ponytail with bangs framing her face, her body was that of a typical ten year olds, but he managed to notice the budding bosoms her tight shirt had shaped over. A scuff was on her cheek and more scuffs and cuts were on her knees and clothes showing that she had been training with this partner of hers for a bit of time. He could admit she had grown, but then his attention shifted to the other. He moved from his position to get a better view.

The boy was older and his hair in a similar style to Eri's only a bit longer and his ponytail was lower, his eyes were onyx and he held himself like a self-respecting shinobi. With a quick look over he knew that the boy was winning this spar, he was calm and patient watching the girl catch her breath.

"Damn Itachi," Eri huffed, "You're getting tougher…"

"And you've barely improved," Itachi retorted. Eri frowned and got up.

"Well I'm sorry Protégé, but I'm told I'm getting pretty good," Eri pointed out.

"First off that would be Protégé-san to you since you have yet to beat me, and second I said you've barely improved, not that you didn't," he explained. Eri rolled her eyes.

"Oh, my apologies Protégé-_san_," she said. The comment got a kunai thrown at her. Eri's eyes widened and she dodged the weapon by a lock of hair. The white silky lock floated to the ground with Eri glaring at it. "Ok that was uncalled for."

"That was for rolling your eyes at me Sincera," Itachi smirked. Eri frowned and went in for another attack. Madara had noticed the boy that was watching them. He had short white hair with reddish streaks running through it and looked to be a couple years older than Itachi. He watched them with almost a sad look on his face until he seemed to sense someone coming towards the field, also sensing the presence Madara stayed where he was.

"Fugaku-san…" the boy greeted him.

"You should be able to address me with more respect than that Yoichi," The Uchiha clan leader stated.

"Sorry…"

"I don't see why you are letting her train Yoichi, as a kunoichi she'll be put in unnecessary danger, not to mention she won't be a ninja for long."

"I realize that… it's just she wanted to go so badly and I didn't have the heart to tell her no. She wants to be able to protect others and see the world, how can I say no to that?"

"You and I know what her destiny is, so why try to change it?" Fugaku answered looking at the sparing couple.

"It's not her destiny… It's a piece of paper you forced our father to sign…" Yoichi kept himself from snarling.

"Forced to sign or not your father signed it in his own blood and made it legally binding. Your sister will be under my charge when she turns sixteen and then learn to be a proper wife to the Uchiha I deem to be the most fit to sire the union our clans have worked on for centuries. I will pull her out of ninjutsu to keep her out of danger so why throw her head first into it? Isn't that why you're complying with your father's wishes? To protect your only flesh and blood left?"

"Father would never have signed such a thing if you didn't force him to…" Yoichi almost snapped looking at the clan leader with stone cold blue eyes, "I only agreed to it to protect her yes, but I will let her be who she wants to be until that horrible day you snatch her freedom away."

"You will be silent," Fugaku stated sending the Sincera a glare, "Do you really thinking it's better for her to taste freedom then as you put it 'have it snatched away'? She'll be left longing for it and be impossible to control thus making herself more miserable. You Sinceras and your 'freedoms', your father thought the same way and look what that got him. You're so naïve to how things work…"

Yoichi didn't reply and just turned to watch Eri and Itachi, he didn't know how to reply to such a statement. Feeling that he had gotten through to the boy Fugaku glanced at the couple.

"Itachi will make a good husband to her… don't you worry about that… she'll be in good hands," he said.

Yoichi's looked darkened as he turned away. "That's not what I'm worried about," he muttered walking away from Fugaku shoving his hands in his pockets.

Madara sat back now very interested. They were still trying to unite an Uchiha and a Sincera despite all the previous failures? The only reason the Uchihas wished to unify with the Sincera clan was so the Sincera clan's bloodline healing ability would be added to the Uchiha's arsenal of power. Many years ago before even Madara was born, the Sincera clan was a target for other clans. A peaceful clan that they were it was their blood ability to heal that attracted other clans to them and steal away their members. Their healing ability resided in unique properties in their blood that accelerates the member's ability to heal, they can also donate their blood to an injured person and they in turn will be healed as quickly as their donor for a short period of time. It was because of this that members were captured and bleed to death so members of other clans can gain the ability for some time. In desperation the leader of the Sincera turned to the Uchiha and offered their loyalty and services to the warrior clan in exchange for help fending off the advancing clans. The Uchiha leader at that time had accepted, but asked that the Sincera clan offer their woman to Uchiha bachelors so the Uchiha can also gain their ability to heal through becoming kin. Knowing that the Sincera could face extinction if an alliance wasn't made, the Sincera leader accepted. Though unfortunately the unions that were attempted proved unfruitful for producing a child, or the couple met a tragic end. There has been no successful union between Uchiha and Sincera even after all this time, and eventually that part of the deal was forgotten…

Madara looked back at the white haired child interested. Did she know she was in an arranged marriage? He frowned and dismissed the possibility; she wouldn't be acting as she was towards the boy if she knew she would one day marry him. It seemed that Itachi didn't know ether. He watched the girl and started imagining her at sixteen, a kunoichi growing towards her prime, only to be told she can no longer practice ninjutsu. It almost seemed like a waste if she was to be any good at it. Again he found a temptation to steal her away, but shook it off. She was too young to be of any use to him now. But this Itachi on the other hand… he could use him.

Months later Madara felt the most satisfied he had felt in years as he looked at the streets filled with his vengeance. He stepped away from the dead Uchihas and put a hand on the shoulder of his student. "Only one remains… shall I leave him to you?" he said. Itachi only nodded. Madara smirked, "Meet me when you finish."

Then he made his way out of the village, he knew he could take his time with it. Itachi volunteered to kill his own brother… Madara's expression darkened a bit remembering Izuna. He sighed then listened to the silence of the night, hoping to forget that dark memory. Casually he went to the roof tops and walked on them hoping to get his mind off it. He looked ahead and yet again saw that girl. He stopped and masked his presence so to not reveal himself. The girl was lying back on the roof of her home causally. Then he heard the elder Sincera's voice.

"Eri where are you?" he demanded. Eri peeked over the rooftop and looked down at her brother.

"Up here Yoichi!" she called. Yoichi looked up and upon seeing her, his eyes widened a bit.

"Eri get down from there you can fall and get hurt!" he panicked.

"I'm fine," Eri pouted but to put her brother at ease she climbed down from the roof. Once she touched the ground she found herself in her brother's arms. "Yoichi…?"

Yoichi blinked and looked down at his younger sister, "S-Sorry… you know I get worried about you…"

Eri smiled and hugged him, "You worry too much."

The elder Sincera smiled a bit and hugged her back, "Yeah I know… come on its late let's get you to bed…"

Madara watched them go inside, he silently wondered if Yoichi would be happy to know his little problem was taken care of, Fugaku and the other Uchiha were dead and Itachi was leaving with him, there was no one to bind his sister to a contract anymore… He shook his head a bit and figured it was none of his business before he got up and left to where he was supposed to meet Itachi. Over the years he had more visits to the village sometimes it was to collect information or to reminisce in old memories her would happen to spot her and note how she had grown since he last saw her.

The last time he saw her was a couple of months ago. He was scouting out for the Kyubi host once more, knowing that it was the blonde boy that was the child of the 4th Hokage. While doing this causal search his eyes happened to notice her yet again. A sword strapped to her side and a Konoha band tied in its proper place on her forehead. Watching her walk by he noticed how she had matured, suddenly he had forgotten why he was wondering about the village. He remembered Fugaku's and Yoichi's conversation six years ago and knew that if the Uchiha clan hadn't been wiped out as they were she wouldn't be how she was now, a proud kunoichi free to marry who she chose. A thought went into his head wondering what kind of man she would choose, but stopped himself. Cursing his mind he left telling himself he'll send Itachi and his partner to search for the host instead. But simply avoiding her was doing more harm than good now that he had created the Akatsuki and thus adding stress to himself.

Madara sighed yet again and decided to turn in for the night. Obviously the rain would not calm his mind this time, nor distract him from his problem concerning this woman. The more she grew the stronger the temptation was to steal her away. Her face was burned into Madara's mind as he told himself again and again that she was not to be of any use to him yet. But of course a physical attraction towards the kunoichi began taking its toll as well. When he saw her development towards womanhood or thought of it for that matter, and well with all the work he's done he hadn't set aside time for his needs. It was almost maddening but he did his best to keep his distance to avoid unnecessary distractions. It worked until one night he awoke in a wet bed. Panting he looked over the embarrassing situation and groaned softly as reminisce of the dream made him imagine the girl's naked body next to him. He gave a deep sigh and ran his hands over his face.

"Fuck…" he muttered softly. He looked up at the ceiling and knew that whatever this woman was to be to him, whether it be a onetime shot or something more… she was doing him no good by staying in the leaf like the stranger she was.


	2. Her Life

A white haired woman walked down the streets of Konoha in a bit of a daze. Another training session with her mentor had run long so all she wanted to do was go home and rest a bit before her older brother got home from his mission. As much as she loved her brother, he had a tendency to get on her nerves when she was tired, even when he didn't mean it.

When she opened the door to her home she was greeted with a bright cocky grin. "How was your day sis?" he asked messing with his short hair. Like his sister he had white hair as well but with reddish-orange streaks. Colored streaks were not unusual in Sincera children whose parents married outside of the clan.

"I'm not in the mood Yoichi…" she replied truthfully.

Yoichi's expression immediately switched to concern for his younger sister. "Your sensei running you hard again?" he asked.

Eri smiled calmly, "Well if she doesn't challenge me how am I going to improve?"

Her brother only shrugged in response, seeing as he could not combat that logic. Slightly amused Eri shook her head then went to her room to rest.

Yoichi watched his sister walk up the stairs then sighed to himself. "At least she gives herself more time to recover these days…" he muttered remembering the days when she would train non-stop and refuse to come home or take a break. As light as he was on his sister, he would get very concerned when she started pushing herself, after all she was his only family now…

Meanwhile Eri had flopped on her bed with an exhausted sigh. She cuddled with her pillow as she kicked the sandals off her feet. "Oi…" she breathed. She glanced out the window and saw a shadow move in front of it. Normally she'd want to investigate but with the rigorous training she'd taken up she was too tired. Deciding to blame the shadow on a cat or something harmless she closed her eyes and took a light nap, on guard just in case. She didn't know it belonged to someone who would have a great effect on her life.

Unfortunately a growling in the kunoichi's stomach woke her some time later. Eri sighed and opened her eyes, Yoichi can't cook to save his life, so of course she'd have to make her own food or go out to eat. With a yawn she sat up and debated on what would quiet the noise in her belly the quickest. She looked in the mirror and took out her ponytail to fix her hair. Once her silky locks were again set with bags framing her face and the rest in a neat low ponytail that reached her mid-back, she put on her sandals figuring she was craving some Ramon. She walked to the kitchen and figured her brother went out to socialize since she hadn't heard any activity in the small house. Writing a quick note telling Yoichi he was on his own for dinner she made her way out to the local Ramon stand.

Walking down the street Eri looked up at the cloudless blue sky, she had a tendency to zone out when she was walking alone, maybe because the route she took was so familiar to her she didn't even need to look in front of her. Of course when you aren't paying attention to your surroundings, you will bump into people.

"Oof!" came the sound from her throat when she ran into an older man. She stepped back a bit to catch her balance before she fell.

"Are you alright?" asked the man.

"Yeah I'm fine, just um not watching where I was going," Eri replied looking at him. The man was tall with a long mane of white hair, he was an older man with red lines going down his eyes and wearing a large scroll on his back. Eri noticed that he was looking her up and down. "Can I help you…?" she asked feeling uncomfortable.

"Tell me how old are you?" he asked.

"Sixteen…?" Eri replied thinking it was a bit rude to just ask a girl her age.

"Oh," his face seemed to fall slightly. "Seemed a bit older, too bad you would have been perfect for my new book… oh well I'll see you around," he said grinning and patting her on the shoulder before leaving.

"…Weirdo…" Eri muttered before continuing her walk to the Ramon stand. Outside of the stand stood her brother, she sighed seeing the flirty smirk on his face when he was talking with a local woman.

"So tell me Aoi, have you been doing something different with your hair? It's so soft and smooth," he said pushing a strand of hair behind the blushing woman's ear. "And you're skin has such a warm glow to it… You're just breath-taking today…"

"Oh I haven't been doing anything different…" Aoi replied. Eri rolled her eyes as she approached. Yoichi was a man with a one track mind at times. Put a woman in front of him and he uses his words to turn the woman's knees to jelly, put him on a mission he'll focus on that until the mission is complete, put his sister in front of him he was a caring and protective older brother… Yoichi Sincera had a side to him for every situation.

"Oi, Yoichi!" Eri called. Yoichi looked away from the woman and smiled at his sister.

"Hey there you are sleepyhead," he teased.

"Yeah you'd have to sleep too if you had a sensei like Kayo…" Eri muttered.

"She's a crazy old bat, I'm surprised you can tolerate her," Yoichi joked. He looked back at Aoi, "I'll chat with you later," he told her with a wink. Aoi giggled blushing and then left the siblings to talk. "Sooo what you doing here?" he asked.

"I don't feel up to making dinner," Eri shrugged.

"Oh, okay, so ramen for dinner then?"

"Ramon for dinner," Eri replied, "But you're paying."

Yoichi sighed, "Of course."

Eri smirked then walked inside the stand with her brother following. After they ordered their ramon Yoichi turned to Eri.

"So how is your training going?"

"It's challenging, but what doesn't kill you makes you stronger right?" Eri replied looking at her elder by five years.

"I suppose, but you're still a teenager Eri, you should be out there having a life. Maybe you should start by stop being so picky and get a boyfriend," he teased.

"There's nothing wrong with being picky," Eri frowned, "Just cause you like to flirt doesn't mean I'll go around flirting as well you womanizer."

"Excuse me but I flirt just to make them feel good about themselves," Yoichi protested with his own frown, "I would never just use a girl. Sure I date but I'm looking for that woman that will click with me like we are two pieces to a puzzle. You on the other hand never give anyone a chance."

"Cause none of the guys I met seem to 'click' with me, now can we get off the subject?" Eri scowled. Yoichi sighed.

"I just wanna see you happy sis…"

"I think I can judge for myself what will make me happy."

"Fine, alright I'll back off," Yoichi said with his hands raised in defeat.

"Thank you," Eri sighed. The pair were served their ramon and ate in silence until an old woman pushed aside the flaps of the stand.

"There you are," she said. Eri finished and looked at the grey haired woman.

"Sensei?" She questioned.

"What do I look like? The ghost of your grandmother?" asked the cranky old woman.

"I-It's just I thought we were done for the day…" Eri replied.

"I said we were done for now, not for the day, do you need your hearing checked?" Kayo demanded.

"No sensei…" Eri sighed.

"Hey Hey wait, Kayo-san Eri's still tired from her earlier training, can't it wait?" Yoichi asked sticking up for his younger sister after he finished his own bowl. The old woman replied by taking her cane and whacking Yoichi in the head.

"You're not her mentor you soft bellied little boy," she replied as Yoichi whined in pain and held his head.

"C-Crazy old bat…" he countered, thus earning himself another whack.

"Yoichi it's fine, I can handle a bit more training, I just misunderstood her," Eri said feeling pity for her poor brother.

"Still think she goes overboard with this…" Yoichi muttered still holding his head.

"You'll be thanking me when your sister is fully trained, good medical ninjas are highly respected... at least they should be considering all the extra training they need to go through," Kayo stated, "She'll come home when I see fit."

Taking her cue Eri got down from her stool. "I'll see you later Yoichi, don't worry I'll be fine," she said giving him a sisterly peck on the cheek before following her mentor to their usual training field.

"Now go meditate and collect you're chakra, I want a good performance this time," Kayo ordered. Eri nodded and sat down then began to meditate as Kayo supervised her. After a few minutes she spoke again, "Now I want you to focus on your chakra, when we complete our training I want you to have such a prefect grip on chakra control and the human body all you'll have to do it touch a patient, send out a bit of chakra and then you'll know exactly what's wrong," she explained.

"Can I really do such a thing?" Eri asked trying not to ruin her focus by chatting, but the technique seemed a bit farfetched.

"Dear, you focus that mind of yours and I can be known as the teacher of one of the greatest medical ninjas in written history," Kayo cackled.

"So this training is for your gain and not mine then?" Eri replied holding back a sarcastic tone. The comment earned her a whack on the head with the elder's cane. With a whine of pain Eri rubbed the hit area and looked at her mentor.

"Do not take such a tone with me missy; I could be in retirement right now enjoying my grandchildren, but no… I see a girl with promise and wish to train her. Now keep your comments to yourself," she ordered.

"Yes Sensei," Eri sighed.

Kayo kept Eri training and focusing her chakra throughout the night, saying she wanted to see how durable her student was. It wasn't until noon the next day that Kayo decided that it was enough. An exhausted Eri silently thanked whatever god existed for finally ending the training. The snowy haired kunoichi then decided to nap in the shade of the trees so she wouldn't return to the village a sleep deprived zombie. When she awoken she felt better, so she headed home to her brother who was probably worried.

During her walked home Eri noticed a couple of dark robed figures walking towards her. Straw hats covered their heads and faces so she couldn't tell who they were. She kept walking forward hoping she was only being paranoid. Once they came close enough that she could brush shoulders with them she took a glance at the shorter one. Suddenly she saw a red glint under the hat; she couldn't help but stare, not knowing that she was allowing herself to be cast under a genjutsu. Suddenly the figures vanished. Eri blinked and rubbed her eyes, but sure enough they were gone.

"I must be more tired than I thought…" Eri said thinking she must have imagined them. Sighing she walked along until she glanced at the sky again and saw a raven. She watched it as it seemed to come towards her, then circled around her, and then it flew off. Eri watched it curiously, was it trying to get her to follow it? Something in her mind made her want to follow that bird… so she did.

Eri followed the bird into a field just outside of the village. Then suddenly the raven vanished. Eri blinked and stopped looking around. "Where'd the little bugger go?" she thought out loud.

"The bird you followed did not exist…" said a slightly familiar voice, "You are in my genjutsu…"

Eri looked around confused but she saw no one. Then she felt like someone tapped on her leaf band, slowly the two dark robed figures from before materialized in front of her. Without their hats Eri could now see who they were, one was unfamiliar and strange to her, but the one that was closer to her she recognized as the owner of the voice. Her eyes widened in surprise as his name slipped through her lips.

"I-Itachi…?"


	3. Enter Akatsuki!

The wind blew across the field playing with Eri's silky white hair as she looked at Itachi in shock. She managed to blink a few times then finally asked, "It's really you isn't it Itachi-san…?"

"Yes…"

"You know this girl Itachi?" asked his blue skinned companion.

"She's… a member of a clan that was allied with mine… so we'd see each other when we were young," Itachi replied.

"So would she be happy to see you?" he teased.

"Shut it Kisame…"

"Why are you here?" Eri asked interrupting the conversation.

"Our leader sent us here… for you Eri Sincera," said the tall Kisame.

"Why me?"

"He didn't say, just told us to come and get you," Kisame replied.

"By force if necessary…?" Eri guessed.

"Well aren't we a smart one?" he chuckled.

"Or just a good guesser…"Eri muttered

"So then, are you going to come willingly or by force? Both of which work with me," Kisame smirked.

Eri bit her lip a little. She could never beat Itachi when they were younger, hell he slaughtered the whole Uchiha clan single-handedly, there was no way in all the seven realms of hell she could ever beat him. She had enough sense to know that. His companion she might have a chance with… might… but even that was a slim chance. She hasn't been training to fight; she's been training to heal. In short Eri knew she was screwed. She wouldn't get herself to run away, it just seemed so cowardly… and probably wouldn't help…

"I think I'm screwed really…" Eri admitted. "Two against one isn't a little unfair?"

"It doesn't have to be if you're willing to fight, you might be entertaining," Kisame said unstrapping a large bandaged sword from his back. Eri glanced at Itachi, but he was only watching, seeming to be no help to her or his companion.

"I should warn you if you take me away my brother will notice I'm gone," Eri said, not knowing how it would help but maybe they hadn't thought of Yoichi.

"Yoichi currently thinks you've taken his advice to have a life and are playing hooky for a week expecting him to cover for you," Itachi replied without a second thought.

"Stupid Yoichi… Wait… you knew about that?" Eri asked feeling a bit violated.

"We stuck around and eavesdropped a bit yes, Itachi insists on planning ahead and well it's paying off since now I believe you are stuck, or as you more blatantly put it, screwed."

Itachi's sigh brought her attention to him. "Kisame," he said looking at the blue skinned man. Even though Kisame would love to just attack their target, if Eri escaped and told the village of their presence it would spell trouble. They just had to keep talking.

Kisame nodded, time for a change in tactic. "But… If you're so against going… I guess we can use that genjutsu Itachi put on your brother and have him come with us instead… though I don't know if leader will like that… he usually kills prisoners he didn't want… but who knows?"

Eri looked at them in disbelief; they wouldn't seriously bring him into this. "You better leave Yoichi alone," she demanded.

"Come with us and your brother will remain unharmed. After all Leader asked for you, if you come willingly then there is no reason to disturb him," he countered.

"You know what? Fine. You said he won't expect me for a week right? Does that mean your leader is planning on letting me return?" Eri asked.

"We cannot say for certain…"

Eri sighed, that was the best answer she was going to get. "Fine, I'll go with you."

"Good, now so you don't try any funny business… We'll have to knock you out…"

Eri glared at the blue skinned man, unconscious with a man she didn't know and another she no longer trusted? Fuck no.

"I'm sorry I'm not complying to that, you'll just have to trust me," she countered.

"Actually girl it's us who have to apologize, we aren't risking anything just so you can be comfortable."

"But I have to say I don't exactly trust my unconscious body with two strange men," Eri frowned stepping back a bit. "I'll go along with you guys but I'm going to be conscious and walking with you."

"Again so sorry, but you no longer have a say here," Kisame said. Then the swords hilt expanded and started racing towards Eri. Eri avoided it just in time and avoided it again as it turned back. Kisame chuckled and watched as Eri could only avoid the attacks. Kayo made her leave her sword and weapons at home before they had gone to train, leaving her to rely on taijutsu. Kisame chuckled at the show, not noticing Eri was coming closer.

Suddenly a foot connected with Kisame's cheek when Eri finally came close enough to land a hit. He staggered back a bit holding his cheek as Eri landed on her feet. But Kisame reacted quickly and used the clothed blade of the sword to trip her up and send her falling on her back. Then the halt of the sword wrapped around her.

Eri tried to get away but the she noticed the sword was doing something to her. "M-My chakra…" She gasped.

"Yes, and Samehada seems to like it, not as much as mine of course but likes it none the less. It might just drain you dry," he smirked.

"Kisame that's enough, we should have left by now," Itachi said. Kisame nodded and picked up the girl.

Eri's eyes widened, "Put me down…" she said almost having a panicky edge in her voice.

"What? Afraid I'll drop you?"

Eri was quiet, not wanting to admit to it. She hated being picked up by anyone but people she most trusted, she didn't like falling. Kisame only chuckled as Itachi put a finger under Eri's chin making her look at him, again Eri had forgotten the sharingan and looked at him. One swirl of the dot-like designs on Itachi irises and Eri was out cold.

Madara was anticipating Eri's arrival and pacing in his room. He had things set, he had an alias to walk around in, he had a reason for her to be brought to the Akatsuki, all he needed was her and then he can let the ball roll. He still didn't know why this woman haunted his mind so, but it was driving him to an edge. He needed to find out before it really started interfering with his goals. A knock was as his door, with a deep breath he looked at his reflection in the window and put on the façade of being indifferent towards the girl's arrive.

"Itachi and Kisame have completed their mission…"

"They brought her?"

"Yes, she's in the holding chambers until she wakes up."

"Good, have her brought out and offer her our little deal when she comes to… She'll be more useful and less of a task to control if she feels she can make her own choices. But emphasize on what can happen if she refuses…"

"Yes sir."

"Dismissed," said the Uchiha. When left alone he sighed and watched the rain fall yet again. Let the ball start rolling…

Eri groaned a bit as she came out of her unconscious state. Her head was foggy and it took her a minute to remember why she wasn't at home in bed. She panicked a little and sat up on the concrete level that stood out from the wall. Eri sighed, what did she let herself get into? She slowly stood up and looked around a little. It looked like an old age prison, only no windows. She found what seemed to be the only exit from the room was a heavy looking door with bars set into it. She walked over and went on her tip toes to peek through and see on the other side. There she saw the blue skinned shark like man again.

"Hey you, where am I?" she asked, not remembering his name.

"You are at our one of our main bases," Kisame replied standing up.

"So what is the meaning of this?" Eri demanded.

"Don't go losing your skirt, we just put you in there in case you came to when someone wasn't around," Kisame explained, "We don't want you wondering on your own till you talk with our leader."

Eri nodded and waited as Kisame opened the door as she kept herself from retorting on the skirt comment, Eri did not wear skirts. With that he encouraged her to follow him down the hallway. She couldn't help but glance around a bit, even the hallways in this place seemed a bit forbidding.

"Your leader… is he… um…" Eri started but broke off not really knowing what word to use.

"You'll just have to see for yourself," Kisame replied as they walked up to a door. With that he opened it and all but shoved her into the room then closed it behind her.

The inside of the room was dark the only source of light was a light bulb in the ceiling to light the center of the room. There in the center was the man that Eri assumed was the leader. His hair was short and spiked with a ginger coloring. His eyes were grey with rings around his pupils, and there were piercings all over his face. Eri took a deep breath and step forward into the light.

"I assume you are the girl named Eri?" came his voice.

"Yes I am," she replied

"Good, now we can get down to business…"

"Can I ask why you sent for me?" Eri asked

The ginger haired man looked at her. "Because you are of the Sincera clan correct?"

"Well yes," Eri replied looking slightly confused.

"Then you know of your clan's genetics and abilities, and that you are the last one known to display all the abilities, do you not?"

Eri nodded, remaining members of her clan had the healing abilities but due to marrying out of the clan their bloodline was thinning thus their powers weren't as strong as hers. But no one seemed to know quiet why Eri's was still strong like a pure Sincera, "But how do you-"

"We do our research," Pein replied.

"Fine, but why do you want me? You haven't explained that," she countered.

"Well if you're going to be rude then Kisame can throw you back in your cell," Pein replied looking at her very disinterested.

Eri bit her lip and just watched him. Pein smirked a bit, "Good girl, now as to why I had Itachi and his partner collect you was… hmm how to put it… in your own best interest really."

"My own best interest eh?"

"Are you familiar with a man by the man of Orochimaru?"

"I've heard the name in passing…"

"Well he is an ex-member of ours, and when the spies we put on him notice that he is focusing on something that can give him power they inform us and we do what we can to keep him from obtaining it…"

"So this has something to do with me?" Eri asked.

"Yes, recently Orochimaru has been focusing on your bloodline and will be making plans for your capture. If he gets his hands on you he will experiment on you until he gets what he wants," Pein replied.

"Why should that concern the Akatsuki?" Eri asked suspiciously.

"Well if he is able to obtain your bloodline and be able to heal himself as you do he will be more of a formidable opponent," Pein explained, "besides, you should sound a bit more thankful. His methods are painful, ruthless and as a woman he may consider breeding you with his other subjects to create new bloodlines he can use, I doubt you want to be someone's breeding bitch," he smirked.

Eri looked at him completely appalled. "Of course I don't! Th-that's… cruel, disgusting, not to mention inhuman…"

"Yes, so that is why we are offering you protection… for a price."

"What kind of price?" she asked.

"It's simple really, stay here and be the Akatsuki's medical ninja, and pledge your loyalty to us as well. If you refuse… well I guess it'll be a waste but we might have to kill you… it'll be a mercy killing though. If Orochimaru gets his hands on you you'll be begging for death, unfortunately for you you'd be too valuable as a subject to kill. We can just seal away your memories of this encounter and send you back to the village but you'll eventually be captured by that snake without our protection…" Pein replied.

"You mean betray the Leaf…?"

"Yes, but really, it's in your own best interest. So what do you say?" Pein asked.

Eri sighed and crossed her arms. She took a deep breath to calm her mind and tried to consider Pein's offer… He did make sense; he didn't seem to be lying about this Orochimaru's tactics… "Can I have some time?" she asked.

"Time for what?"

"My decision… You're asking me to leave my only family and the place that has been home to me my whole life, I want some time to think it over," Eri said.

"…Fine, you have three days to make a decision. Itachi will lead you to where you'll be staying with us," Pein replied.

Eri could only nod as the Uchiha stepped out of the darkness. Without another word exchanged Eri followed Itachi out of the room.

Madara let his presence be known as he stepped out of the darkness behind Pein. Of course, Pein knew he would be there.

"Well we have her here for the time being, are you sure she'll accept our offer? I don't want the blood of innocence to stain my hands," Pein said but it was obvious it was the real body, Nagato speaking.

"She'll accept it, she thinks she has a choice but she really doesn't. She either accepts our protection, takes death at our hands, or we toss her out, were if he gets his hands on her, she'll beg for death… We're giving that girl a chance at life by recruiting her so rest easy," Madara replied before taking his own way out of the room. With his pawns he had covered his selfish need for her with a lie. Nagato had no idea Madara just wanted an excuse to have her in the Akatsuki so her loyalties would unknowingly belong to him, ironically one of the spies did in fact confirm that Orochimaru was showing interest in the Sincera clan before Madara had thought of how he could trick Nagato into bringing her there. All he had to do was to be sure she'd accept Pein's offer.

He walked out into the hallways not caring if he was seen, after all… his acting skills were superb and his alias not one to be taken seriously, his long hair cut short, his face hidden by an orange swirled mask and an attitude that most of the members found annoying. Yes no one would ever suspect his true identity. He peeked around a corner and saw Itachi stopping outside of the room that was set aside for Eri. He didn't know if any words were exchanged between the two as Itachi leaned in over the girl. Madara kept himself quiet as he noticed Itachi was close enough to claim a kiss from her. The Sincera's blush deepened because she wasn't use to someone being that close to her. Itachi's breath caressed over her lips as he sighed. "Just… be careful around here," he advised before he backed up a bit and walked away.

Madara relaxed a bit, seems that Itachi didn't have any feelings for the woman. Little did either Eri or Itachi know that if the Uchiha clan wasn't massacred, they would have been engaged. Another good reason to obliterate the clan, things would have gotten complicated if Madara would have to steal a bride for his own uses. But now she was a mere kunoichi unbound by any contract or arranged marriage. She was almost ready for the taking, but he needed to wait a bit more. Though as he stepped out of the shadows he figured there was not any harm in introducing his alter ego to her. After all, it will give him access to her and allow him to earn her trust so when he finally took her, the process will hopefully go a bit smoother.

His mind raced with thoughts and ideas as he approached the girl. Then again he was Madara Uchiha. THE Madara Uchiha, who says he has to win a girl over just to alleviate some stress? It can be as simple as casting her into a genjutsu taking her to his room and having his way with her, but when he looked at the curious blue eyes that noticed his approach… even he found that idea leaving a bad taste in his mouth.

"Hey there I'm Tobi!" he said letting his acting skills fool her like it had the rest of his pawns.

Eri blinked, "Um, hey…" she replied looking at the tall man.

"What's your name?" he asked cheerfully. Like he didn't already know…

"My name is Eri… Are you a er… member here?" Eri said noticing he didn't have one of the black cloaks with red clouds.

"Ha! I wish, Tobi is Zetsu-san's subordinate," he replied.

"Who's… Zetsu?"

"Oh trust me; you'll know him when you see him. Zetsu-san kinda sticks out," he chuckled. "Anyways Eri-chan, can I call you Eri-chan? I saw you with Itachi-san, you better be careful with Itachi-san he gets very moody."

"You sure do talk a lot, but… meh what's the harm? I guess you can call me that…" Eri replied. This man was kinda like her brother… chatty and happy sounding… maybe that's why he was lowering her guard that she usually keeps up around new people.

"Awesome," he grinned.

"Are you the funny guy around here or something? I thought everyone here would be… I donno…" she seemed to be having trouble with words today.

"I guess you can say that, I'm the friendly face," he joked.

Eri looked at him and giggled a bit. "But you have a mask on."

"That's what makes it so clever! The only friendly face is covered," he teased.

"Ah I see…" Eri said smiling a little.

Madara smirked beneath the mask. It might be easier then he thought to get close with this girl.


	4. Her Decision

Until she was to give Pein her answer Madara or 'Tobi' did what he could to have Eri see their way, of course not without trying to gain her trust while he did so. He would try and talk with her but it seems he'll need some practice having small talk with the woman. She spent most of the time in the room they had provided and when she did wonder out she let him tag along.

The first day she was there proved to be the most interesting once she thought she could try and escape.

"Eri-chan where are you going?" Tobi asked when he saw her sneaking out of her room. Eri looked over in surprise then her expression softened a little seeing it was Tobi.

"I just… wanted to explore a bit?" she replied sounding innocent.

"I donno… You wouldn't be trying to escape would you?" he teased.

"How could I escape from a base crawling in S – ranked criminals?" Eri said looking away. Tobi only chuckled knowing he had figured out her plan.

"Okay Eri-chan, you can explore, but Tobi is going to stay with you and keep you out of trouble," he smirked. Eri scowled a bit, with an Akatsuki hanging around her it would prove hard to try and escape.

With her plan sidetracked Eri put on a little show of being interested in the Akatsuki for Tobi, asking him questions about other members and questions about himself. Tobi answered without giving too much information and when the questions were about him he managed to sidetrack her by asking her questions about herself, to which she also tried to avoid… Well played…

They were approaching a corner when Eri looked back at Tobi to ask him something, only to run into a sliver haired man. "uff.." escaped her throat then she looked up at him. Pink eyes glared at her in annoyance.

"What the fuck! Can't you watch where you're going?" he demanded.

"Um I'm sorry?" Eri said backing off a little. He scoffed at her.

"What the fuck your problem?" he asked looking her over.

"I really don't have one for the time being," she replied.

"Hn, later," he said shoving her onto her ass as he continued to walk.

"and who was that?" Eri asked sounding very annoyed.

"That's Hidan… he's not very friendly and he curses a lot…" Tobi replied giving her a hand to help her up. Eri looked at the hand for a minute then looked at Tobi as she took it. He helped her to her feet then seemed to have forgotten to let go of her hand. Eri blushed slightly.

"S-So he's normally like that," Eri managed to say taking her hand back.

"Pretty much, but don't worry… not all the others are like him."

"I hope you're right," Eri muttered, "where would these others be?"

Tobi shrugged, "We wonder around we're sure to bump into the rest of them… but you should watch where you're going," he added snickering. Eri rolled her eyes.

The two wondered along with Eri curiously glancing into other rooms and corridors. But when they stated hearing arguing voices Madara sighed. He recognized one of them and he didn't like this boy at all.

"I don't get how you can be so close minded to what true art is un!" yelled a blonde man that seemed to be around Eri's age.

"I am not the one with the closed mind brat," replied the red head sounding disinterested, "True art is eternal not that 'Beauty is in an instant' or whatever."

Deidara growled and was about to retort but heard the couple's footsteps approaching. His aqua eyes first looked at Tobi in annoyance.

"Oh great, he's here un," he commented then his line of sight trailed to Tobi's companion. Eri simply observed the man. He had one visible blue eye with the other covered by his golden locks, a rock village band graced his forehead and his hair was in a half ponytail on top of his head with the rest going straight down. "You…"

"Hm?"

"What is your opinion of art?"

"…Art?" Eri asked.

"Yes, what do you think art is?" he asked. The other man looked at her, interested in her answer as well.

"What art is… well I'm no artist but… um… hm…" Eri thought trying to think of what to say, "Art is… in the eyes of the beholder…" she finally said. When she received a blank star from the men she decided to elaborate. "L-Like um a sculptor calls his creations art… and um a mass murder calls the results of his killings art… so um really it depends whose looking at it…"

The red head just stared at her, "That was probably the most long winded neutral answer I have ever heard…" and then he left.

The blonde looked at him, "Danna don't you walk away from me!" he demanded as he followed.

Eri only blinked at the two strange 'artists'. "And they were…?"

"The one who yelled a lot was Deidara-senpai, he has a short temper. The other one is Sasori, I don't know a lot about him, he stays in his room and makes creepy puppets…" Tobi explained.

"I see…" Eri commented, seems all these members had a… oddity about them. "Is there anyone else I'm missing?"

"Well, there's Kakuzu, but he tends to kill anyone that annoys him so best to leave him alone. There's Zetsu-san but he'll mistake you for a snack," Tobi chuckled darkly, "and then there's Konan, but we don't see much of her so if you'll see her I don't know."

"… Interesting," Eri replied not knowing what else to say.

"That's one way to put it," he snickered. He could see the Eri was trying to cover up that she was nervous about these dangerous people… and it was kind of cute. It was probably what made her ask Tobi to lead her back to the room she was given saying she wanted to put her head down. Madara decided to stay outside her room in case she tried to pull a fast one, which was good. Later on in the night the door opened slightly, but seeing his shadow the door closed again.

The next morning he decided to take a closer look at the girl. He opened the door and stole himself into the room; walking over to the bed he glanced over the kunoichi with mild interest. Why was a girl like her haunting his consciousness? Was there something special to her? He didn't dare to come closer in case she was a light sleeper. He didn't want to wake her, for one thing she'll think of Tobi for being some sort of creeper for being in her room while she slept, but also… she looked so peaceful…

He heard her yawn and shift a bit in her sleep; he took that as his cue to leave. Sneaking into her room wouldn't help him figure out why he thought of her how he did. Quietly he snuck back out of the room to wait for her to surface once more.

That day Eri mainly stayed around the hallway that her room occupied, probably not wanting to meet up with other members again. Once she had her full of pacing in the corridor she only huffed and went back into the room. Tobi peeked in on her biting her thumb and looking at the wall. "Are you trying to summon?" he asked, noticing she was drawing blood.

"Hm?" Eri said looking at Tobi. "oh um no… just a habit of mine…"

"Thinking of what you're going to do?"

"Yeah…"

"Mind... if I um… sit with you?

"Guess not…"

Tobi nodded and walked over taking a seat next to the bed. He had to stay close and if she said anything he had to use it to get her to agree to stay, but they sat in silence. It seemed like hours before Eri finally sighed. "I have no clue what I'm going to do…" she groaned running her hand over her face.

"Why can't you just stay?" Tobi asked.

"I don't want to leave my brother alone… He's lost so much already… and he can't quite take care of himself…" Eri said laying back.

"Oh?"

Eri smiled a bit, "He's a great guy but… just can't seem to get his life together… he needs me for now… That's why I want to go back…"

"I see, but you'll be in danger if you go back…"

"Yes but I don't want to hide here… ugh, why is this so complicated?"

"Sometimes life isn't fair…?" Tobi offered

"Life is a bitch is what it is…" Eri muttered. Tobi only chuckled.

"I guess so."

They went silent again, each saying something every now and then but they would slip back into the stillness. Comfortable with Tobi as she was, Eri still didn't want to give too much information about herself and well 'Tobi' didn't have much of himself to offer without taking unnecessary risks.

Without a window it was impossible to tell what time it was, when Eri's stomach growled he offered to get her food which she would accept. At first she picked and checked the food before ingesting it as a step of caution, but when he moved the mask aside and ate some of the food himself she began trusting him.

Madara didn't know how long they were in the room, hours at least… When he figured it was time to try and really try to convince her to stay he heard soft breathing. He looked and saw her cuddled up on top of the blankets. Poor girl fell asleep. The Uchiha sighed a little annoyed but got up and gave her the courtesy off trying to put her under the covers. As he moved her Eri's eyes tiredly opened. She simply looked at him as he softly apologized for waking her and put some blankets over her body. She watched him back away and walk out of the room before closing her eyes again to sleep.

He returned to his place outside of her room and wondered if he should bother standing guard another night. Tomorrow she was giving her answer to Pein. With a soft sigh he sat by the door. He sat there what felt like a few minutes until he heard a terrified gasp come from inside the room. Getting up he peeked inside to see Eri sitting up and hugging her knees, he heard her panting as if she was running.

"E-Eri-chan…?"

Eri looked up at him but didn't say anything before she buried her face in her knees. "G-Go away… I-I'm fine…"

He walked in anyways, "you don't seem fine…"

"It's just a bad dream…"

"Oh?"

"Tobi… I'm serious, leave me alone…."

"Why?"

"It's just something I don't like talking about!" she snapped at him.

"O-Ok… fine, I'll go," he said raising his hands in surrender and backing out the door. Closing the door he noticed her odd behavior of getting defensive so quickly, but shrugged it off. If she wanted to push people away it would be her problem.

Finally the day that Eri had to give Pein her answer had come. She stayed on her bed with her eyes closed seeming to be deep in thought.

"Today's the day eh Eri-chan?" Tobi said sitting at the edge of the bed.

"Yeah… it is…" Eri sighed.

"Do you know what you're going to do?" he asked.

"… I have an idea… but I kinda need to maul it over… See if your leader will agree with it and all…"

"Why can't you just stay here?"

"Not to sound like a child but… I want to go home…" Eri admitted. She missed her brother… thinking of staying here and possibly never seeing him again, nor being able to wonder around the village in which she was born, it wretched at her heart.

"Well… I won't tell you what to do… but… staying here is as much for your safety as to our advantage…" Tobi said getting up. Eri didn't reply to his comment just stayed where she was.

Later she finally came out of the room, surprisingly she seemed to be in a good mood. "Eri-chan?" Tobi asked

"I can't believe I didn't think of it earlier, it's so damn obvious," she said more to herself then Tobi, then she looked at him, "He expects me in the same room as last time right?"

"Well yes…"

Eri only smiled a bit and nodded then walked down the corridor. Tobi stared for a minute then followed. He got ahead of her just as she reached for the door.

"Wait Eri-chan what's your answer? Please tell Tobi?" he said blocking her way. Eri only smiled sweetly.

"Don't worry Tobi, I think I figured out a way for both me and your leader to be happy with the arrangements. Now move," she said gently shoving the taller man aside to get into the room where she was to meet Pein. Once the door closed behind her he went down the hallway and turned a corner to follow his own secret route to the room. What could Eri possibly be thinking?

"And what makes you think I'll accept this… proposition?" He overheard Pein demand from the white-hair kunoichi he was in earshot.

"Well, it makes the most sense," Eri plainly stated, "Back at the leaf I am already being taught medical ninjustu, I don't think you have anyone here that can continue teaching me and the more I know the more I will be able to help will I not?"

A disgruntled sigh was heard. "Perhaps…"

"And while I'm training I could gather information that you may find useful yes?"

"This is true…"

"Then what's the problem?" Eri asked coming off as a bit annoyed as well.

"We are not certain of where your loyalties lay and if you are captured by Orochimaru then this was a complete waste of time," Pein stated.

"Then what can I do to assure you?" Eri replied with a bit of an attitude.

"…Let us alter your memories, and we'll have members keep an eye on you until you are of use to us," Pein said

"Fine."

"Then go to Sasori and tell him I sent you, he'll understand what he needs to do."

Madara took that as his hint to leave before he was found there. Quickly he returned to where Eri had left 'Tobi'.

"Tobi? Did you wait there this whole time?" Eri asked seeing the masked man sitting next to the door.

"Well I wanted to see how it went," Tobi replied.

"Well I'm going back to the leaf for now," Eri explained.

"For now?" he repeated having not heard the original suggestion.

"Until my training is complete and you guys need me," she said.

"Oh… so you're coming back? You're like a spy now?" he chirped.

"I suppose you can put it like that," Eri shrugged, "I have to go see Sasori now."

Tobi nodded, "I'll follow you."

"If you want," she smiled as she walked down the hall. Tobi followed knowing why Pein would send her to Sasori.

The red head opened the door with slight annoyance, "what do you two want?"

"Pein sent me to see you, he said you'd know what to do," Eri replied hiding the fact that she was nervous about not knowing what the puppet master was suppose to do. Sasori only nodded and let her in then glanced at Tobi.

"and you?"

"To help?"

"Scram, I don't need you messing this up," Sasori said shutting the door in Tobi's face… er… mask. Madara frowned, Sasori was very lucky he was a patient man.

Eri looked around and saw puppets in different stages of development, some in parts, some fully put together and hanging from the walls, but when she looked at the work table she gulped a bit. A human in the process of becoming a puppet, she had interrupted Sasori draining the fluids from the body.

"If you betray us it will be your body on that table," Sasori muttered walking over.

"Noted…" Eri commented trying not to look at the corpse. Damn Sasori for putting the image of herself on that table.

"Sit on your knees, I will need your blood for this."

Eri only nodded and sat in the middle of the room as Sasori grabbed a bowl. Taking out a knife he took Eri's hand and made her expose her wrist to him. Eri's eyes widened realizing what he was going to do.

"Hey hey hey wait! You can slice major arteries and tendons doing that!" she said taking her wrist back.

"It's the quickest way to bleed you," Sasori said looking annoyed, "I could just slice the major arteries in your neck, but then you'd die. I'll stop the blood flow before you grow too weak,"

"You've been working on corpses too long, don't you have a needle? I'll draw the blood myself," Eri replied stubbornly.

"Brat," Sasori muttered under his breath getting up. Eri sighed relived until Sasori tossed a needle at her; she quickly caught it before it pierced her breast. "Adequate reflexes," he observed. Eri frowned; Sasori seemed a bit disappointed that she caught it. "Fill the syringe."

She only nodded and felt around for a good place to draw blood. She slide it into her skin and pulled the plunger watching the glass vial fill with red liquid, it was almost fascinating. Once she filled it she took a breath and pulled it out. She took the bowl Sasori placed there and emptied the blood into it. "Happy?"

Sasori said nothing and took the bowl; he dipped his fingers into the warm blood and started writing symbols on the ground around Eri. He ordered her to keep still as he began writing on her body finished with a symbol on her forehead. Making hand symbols he then put his hand over her forehead. Eri's vision became foggy as he muttered the name of the justu then she slowly descended into darkness.


	5. Return

Lying on her back Eri slowly opened her eyes. After taking a minute to focus she realized she was staring at her ceiling. With a slight groan she rolled onto her side and looked around her room. Her window was open and a breeze carried in the scents and sounds of Konoha. Eri yawned and slowly sat up rubbing her forehead trying to recall the events that lead up to this, but her memories were a haze. "What the hell did I do…?" Eri muttered to herself.

"I could have been informed that she was being returned to her home village right after I sealed her memories," Sasori said sounding a bit annoyed. The hologram of Pein only raised a brow to him.

"And why would that information be important?" he asked having only summoned him to decide on their next step in handling their new spy.

"Because I used her as an experiment for a new jutsu."

"And what does this new jutsu do?"

"It seals away her memories, but instead of implanting false memories it makes her mind more… susceptible to suggestions and ideas. If she was asked questions about her whereabouts and she hears people say were they thought she was going to be the jutsu helps her mind create memories based on the suggestion, almost like hypnosis. I was hoping she was being kept here until she came around to test how well the suggested memories are formed," Sasori explained.

"Is she likely to remember what happened here?"

"They'll slowly come back to her, so we should be keeping an eye on her; I designed it so it doesn't just flashback like my other jutsu and she'll adjust to the information. The principle of the jutsu is to let a spy slip back into their village and be able to get any suspicion off them before they begin to remember and adjust to their new purpose."

"Fine, we'll have members check on her from time to time then, you may go."

The red headed puppet master nodded then left the cave-like room. Pein glanced at the masked man in the shadows. "Let me guess, you'd like to check up on her?"

Madara scoffed, "I do have things I need to do here, but I don't think the other members besides Itachi can slip in and out of Konoha without being detected. And let's face it, Tobi is a bit more… sociable…" he replied in a very well crafted 'yes'.

"Whatever, as long as this doesn't blow up in our faces," was the reply as the hologram disappeared. Madara sighed a bit. What will this change bring for the immortal?

Over the next few months Eri was throwing her heart into her medical training. She stopped complaining and making witty comments to her instructor and was usually on guard for Kayo's surprise over night training sessions. Kayo was pleased with the change in her pupil's behavior, though Yoichi kept voicing his concern about her pushing herself too hard. Eri on the other hand didn't understand her sudden drive to improve so quickly, she just knew she wanted to learn and do more. She felt cooped up being in the village with no missions. She wanted to get out, explore, save lives with her growing expertise.

Kayo found Eri a bit before she graduated the ninja academy. She knew of the Sincera blood and saw Eri's bloodline ran thick through her veins. She never asked questions and told Yoichi that she would take his little sister under her wing as soon as she graduated. Eri had never been on a team, nor been out of the village to complete a mission. That knowledge was now eating at her, ninjas younger then she was were leaving the village and going on missions while she was being left behind to meet the satisfaction of an elderly perfectionist. Medical ninjustu was no laughing matter, but Kayo took it to the next level. Eri half expected a lesson in how to use her chakra to revive the dead one of these days, but that day never came.

"Eri," Kayo said after a daylong training session.

Eri glanced at the woman already concerned with the tone Kayo was using. It was… gentle… motherly… a tone unlike the harsh voiced old woman Eri knew. "What is it sensei?" she asked.

"Well if you haven't noticed, I'm getting on in years… You have come to the point where you need someone who can keep up with you and your energy…" Kayo replied from her seat.

"What are you saying…?"

"You are at a level where you should have gone to the Chunin and Jonin exams… But I'm talking with the Hokage so you might not have to."

"So… my training is complete?" Eri asked. Kayo cackled a bit.

"Under me it is," she replied. Eri smiled and stood walking over to her sensei and offered her hand.

"Then I'm thankful for giving me your guidance," she said.

Kayo frowned and got up, "I give you how many years of my life and you give me a measly little handshake-" but Eri bent down and wrapped her arms around the elderly woman.

"I don't want to come off as ungrateful," she said.

"This isn't goodbye yet girl, I need to bring you to the Hokage so he can see where you stand in terms of status," Kayo said, "Meet me in front of the Hokage's office tomorrow at three o'clock and be on your best behavior."

"Of course sensei," Eri said.

"You may leave then," Kayo replied smiling a bit. Eri smiled and bid the woman farewell then left to get some food and rest.

But she didn't notice the figure checking in on her again. Madara was growing impatient with Sasori's jutsu. He had been letting her catch casual glances of him, walking through the forest, sitting somewhere, things like that. But even when she spotted him he didn't see any signs of recognition in her expression. He wanted to converse with her again, but he was stuck with waiting once more. It annoyed him greatly and kept him from focusing on his work.

He sighed and decided to try once more; she can't keep haunting his mind like this. His mentality was at peace when she was at the base and he wanted to get the peace of mind back. He walked in the forest beside her but she was lost in her own world. Great…

Madara sighed and debated on what to do. It could be a year or two before she regained her memories and he was simply wasting his time trying to get her to recognize him. He found the mask he wore annoying at that point; he wanted to pinch his brow in frustration. Getting stuck in his own wayward thoughts, he stopped paying attention to his surroundings and did not take notice of the white-haired female who had stopped in her tracks and was now staring at him, her blue eyes widening slightly. She silently debated on approaching him pat of her wanted to chat with him, the other part told her that she was imagining having met the man before. She gave into her curiosity and approached him. He noticed her presence coming closer and turned to see her walking over to him. She was silent but her eyes told him he seemed familiar to her, and that was all he needed. "Hello Eri-chan," he said switching to his Tobi personality.

Eri blinked at him, "Hey…"

"Do you recognize me?"

"Kinda…"

"Well do you remember my name?" he asked.

"Uh…" the kunoichi replied staring at the orange mask.

"Come on, what's my name?" Tobi teased. She had to remember his name, he knew her memory would come back slowly but he wanted to push it a bit. He just wanted enough for him to work with.

"It started with… a T…?" Eri guessed

"Yes," he chuckled.

Eri's brows knitted together as she tried to recall it, speaking with him helped her call to mind it was a short name that started with a T.

"Tommy?"

"Nope"

"Teddy…?"

"Ha ha wrong again."

"Tizzy?"

"One more guess!"

She was completely focused on him now, trying to remember. "T… T-Tobi…?"

"Ding Ding Ding! You won Eri-chan!" he cheered. Eri looked at him then relaxed and laughed a bit.

"How could I forget you Tobi?" she said with a smile.

"Well we only knew each other for a few days… and it's been months since I've seen you," he replied.

"Yeah but you remembered me, and it's pretty odd my memory is usually not that bad…" Eri thought out loud.

Tobi shrugged, "Guess Tobi isn't very impressionable…" he pouted.

"Aw I'm sorry Tobi," Eri said hugging his arm. His mask turned to her and Eri blushed realizing what she was doing. The kunoichi let go of him and looked away. "S-So how have you been?" she asked.

"I've been ok," replied the man, "You?"

"Pretty much the same," Eri shrugged. She wanted to ask him why she only remembered being near him but didn't remember much else of their time together. She just remembered him making her feel safe and happy. But after thinking it over the young woman thought that if she had forgotten him then seeing him made her remember, then maybe the other memories would follow. When Tobi pushed for more information pretending to not know what she was up to she told of her brother and his dating tumbles, her training sessions and then went onto to tell him of the possible promotion.

Tobi could tell she was a bit nervous about having to have a meeting with the Hokage to discuss her fate so he cheered her on by going, "Don't worry Eri-chan, Tobi has faith in you. That Hokage guy wouldn't know a good kunoichi if she hit him in the face if he can't see how good you are!"

Eri only blushed as his comment. "I-I'm not as good as others in term of… you know… experience and stuff… Being caged in this village will do that to you…"

"Oh those are only details," Tobi said shrugging it off.

"Oh Tobi…" Eri replied giggling a bit. The white haired girl smiled at him before seeing the position of the sun, then she sighed. "I gotta get going, I promised Yoichi I'd cook something for dinner… and I guess I gotta rest for tomorrow, who knows what they'll throw at me," she said.

"Oh alright, but Eri-chan?"

"Yes?"

"Can Tobi come and visit you?" he asked pointing at himself.

Eri looked at him then grinned a bit. "Sure, I wouldn't mind at all."

"Awesome! Then I'll see you later Eri-chan!" he called walking off as he waved good-bye to her. Eri only smiled more and waved back.

"Bye Tobi, see you soon!" she called back.

Once she was out of sight the Tobi façade was dropped and Madara took a breath to assess himself. After a minute he determined that peace of mind was his once more. What was with this woman and her ability to warp his mind as she did?

The next day Eri was pacing by the Hokage's office. Kayo had already entered and Eri had given up on eavesdropping, the elders' voices sounded muffled through the door and Kayo had made sure the door was closed so no one would overhear the conversation. She was tempted to sit down and try to hear through the crack of the door but then what if the Hokage came out to inspect her and saw her eavesdropping like some little kid instead of standing and looking like a proper kunoichi ready to follow his command as Kayo described her?

She heard the door open and all the nerves in her body jumped, she turned to the door with her back straight and her arms at her sides. Taking a breath she saw herself face to face with the 3rd Hokage. The old man looked her over then offered a small smile as he smoked a pipe. "Are you Kayo's student Eri?"

"Yes sir," Eri replied.

"Then come, I would like to speak with you in light of your mentor's… proposition."

Eri was lead into his office and then the Hokage took a seat behind his desk, the red and white hat that went with the robes he was wearing sat on the desk next to a pile of papers. Peeking at the papers she saw he had her profile out. He gaze went to her teacher who was seated comfortably in front of the desk with her cane propped against the chair, so she went and stood next to Kayo. She wanted to ask what the result of the conversation was, but figured it would be too pushy so she stood silently looking form one elder to the other. "So, I bet you're curious of what your sensei and I have agreed upon?" the man asked.

Eri looked at him and nodded "Yes I am."

The man smiled slightly, "Considering the fact that you were taken in directly from the academy and never assigned to a team, on top of never given or completed a mission, you wouldn't be able to compete in the actual Chunin exams since they lay a basis on teamwork." Eri looked down a bit when the Hokage paused. "But…" he added. Her gaze went back to him looking hopeful. "Considering you have been in training to be a medical ninja and it is a very helpful profession for a team's success rate you will be included in the exams, but you will be governed and evaluated by a different set of rules that the examiners will decide upon when they get here."

"So I am able to compete?" asked the young girl.

"Yes, but don't look so hopeful, just because I am able to grant this… unusual request does not mean that they will be easier on you then the other competitors," explained the man.

"O-Of course sir I wouldn't expect to be treated any different," Eri said quickly. The man just chuckled.

"You won't make a good impression if you seem all tensed up," he commented as a knock come from the door. Eri blushed slightly looking embarrassed but then offered to get the door, to which the Hokage accepted. On the other side of the door were the special Jonin who would decide her fate.

After a look over to the potential candidate she was dismissed yet again so she would not know what the judges would want her to do. She stood out in the hallway for what felt like hours until the purple haired woman came out, Eri recalled she introduced herself as Anko Mitarashi as the woman explained to her she would be contacted on the first day of the exams and receive her instructions. The woman was friendly enough but Eri didn't like the way she looked at her. The hazel eyes the woman possessed gazed over her in a way she wasn't able to place, amusement maybe, or perhaps in a way a predator would look at their prey. She was glad when Anko told her she could leave.

A couple of weeks later the Forest of Death loomed over the younger kunoichi as Anko opened the padlock to one of the gates. "Ok, you have an hour before the contestants enter, and remember you are to make it there before any of the others and heal up whoever makes it to the tower, the other medical ninjas will look over your shoulder and give us their opinions of your work, so no pressure," she explained flashing Eri a teasing grin. Eri nodded and walked in taking in the huge wooded area. "Oh and one more thing," Anko added locking the gate behind her.

"And that is…?" Eri asked looking over her shoulder. Anko leaned on the fencing giving the girl a playful smile.

"Don't die on me, I have a feeling we're going to have fun if you win this," she smirked licking her lips. Eri held back a groan remembering that Kayo mentioned Anko might tutor her if she was successful in passing the exam. The older woman had already left, leaving the teenage girl alone. Eri sighed and looked into the forest again. A feeling of dread came over her as reality started setting in. She had to do this completely alone… and if she succeeded in impressing the judges she'll have to look forward to whatever that weird purple haired woman cooked up until she became a jonin… or maybe Anko would stick to her until Eri entered the ANBU… but even then they could be partnered up! Eri sighed and rubbed her temples. No use worrying about the future for the time being, she need to focus on passing this test, but then Anko's smirking face flashed into her mind again…

"What have I myself into this time…?" she muttered to herself before taking a deep breath and heading into the deadly woodlands.


	6. The Chunin exams

The forest was proving to be a challenge for Eri as she trumped through it like some novice camper. Every tree looked like one she passed and she had already tripped over some roots. Yes this forest was proving to be very frustrating. Did she honestly think she'd beat the competitors? They must have opened the gates to them by now.

Eri eventually did think of breaking branches in a certain place to mark where she had been and so far the tower in the distance seemed to be getting closer bit by insufferable bit. But after a couple of hours of avoiding the competitors, battling off some huge insects and possibly had gotten lost a few times; Eri was hot, tired, and beginning to get frustrated. She stopped by a tree to catch her breath; she took of her leaf village band and wiped her sweaty forehead with a dirty forearm. She could honestly care less about the dirt now, her clothes were torn and ripped in a few places and her shins and knees were bruised and scraped, she felt over heated and her mouth felt so dry… she was trying to conserve her chakra for the task ahead… if she ever got to the tower, but then a certain break in a familiar looking tree caught her eye. That was it, the straw the broke the camel's back.

"Why in all the fucking realms of hell did I think I could do this fucking test?"

Eri huffed and tried to take a deep breath. Yelling wasn't going to do her any good, though it relieved a bit of her frustrations. She needed water… Damn Anko for telling her not to bring anything but her weapons, must be a part of the test… maybe testing her endurance? Endurance… Eri blinked and slapped her forehead. Of course, she was trained by Kayo the perfectionist, letting this forest get to her would be letting all those days and nights of endurance training go to waste. She could do this, the only thing that's changed was she had her goal in sight and Kayo wasn't there to whack her with her walking stick if she screwed up. The forest wasn't a factor if she put her mind to it. Feeling herself regain a calm state of mind as she let the renewed determination fill her she put her headband back on and steamed ahead to the tower.

She did her best to ignore the ache in her legs as she rushed to the tower. 'It can't be long now,' she thought to herself. She allowed herself to slow to take a breath and see if there was a nearby sort of water. She couldn't present herself to the officials looking like the worn out mess that she was. Taking a deep breath Eri listened to the sounds of the forest hoping to hear the sound of running water, thinking she was able to pick out the sound she was seeking she carefully made her way to it.

Suddenly her hopes of not being caught by the competing genin were crushed as two men appeared before her. Both wore green outfits and straw hats with talisman hanging from them and each had thick ropes tied around them differently, one had his around his waist and the other had it tied around his chest on top of what looked like a ripped cloak. The one with the rope tied around his waist had what seemed to be a mask attached to his face and who Eri assumed to be his teammate had a very malevolent smirk as they both started at the sixteen year old.

"Well well, seems we found someone who's all alone," said the smirking one.

"Strange… I don't recall seeing this one in the mass of contestants," the masked one remarked, "Maybe she's a scared little mouse that got lost."

Eri looked at them as boldly as she could. "I'm not a contestant in your exam so if you'd excuse me I have my own task to complete," she stated them tried to move on but the masked one grabbed her.

"Well aren't we disrespectful?" he sneered.

"Let me go, I said I have nothing to do with your exams," Eri reiterated.

"We heard that, we just didn't like your tone," said the other.

"I'm not really in the mood to be respectful to a couple of jerk offs," Eri scowled yanking herself away from him.

"Then maybe we should teach you to," said the masked man.

"Just leave me alone."

Eri started to leave again but suddenly a searing pain was going through her arm. Her eyes widened slightly as she gripped the bleeding cut on her arm and looked back at the men, how could they have thrown something so quickly without her sensing it? The cloaked man smirked and threw a few more at her, but she dodged them this time. They were not kidding around and she couldn't talk her way out of this. Eri then knew she would have to fight but she was at a great disadvantage in numbers and stamina. She bit her lip and tried to calm the panic that was threatening at the back of her mind; she had to do this…

The men were stronger then she was, she managed to block most of the kunais they threw at her but they in turn blocked hers. One sliced her right under her leaf band and the others sliced her arms and legs, she thankfully was able to avoid the ones aimed for crucial areas. The men made clones of them and surrounded her as she tried to make a break for the forest but they pushed her back.

"Really and you call yourself a kunoichi?" the masked one snickered, "This is all child's play for us, you have yet to experience our true powers."

Eri was exhausted, her legs shook as she tried to stand up again, the blood from the cut right below her leaf band was seeping into her left eye. Eri was frustrated with herself, all those years of training and this is all she could bring out? Taking deep breaths she looked from one man to the other with her good eye. She was already exhausted before the fight, and these men were obviously stronger then she was, but she couldn't give up, and running away was not an option.

"Just give up and accept your fate," the cloaked one sneered.

"No," she replied stubbornly. Stepping away from them she allowed her bloodline to kick in since it was exhausting her more to suppress it then to allow it to take from her remaining stamina to heal her injuries. White chakra began to surface at her injuries and the men saw as they are began to gradually close. Eri wiped the blood from her eye and glared at them. "I'm late enough as it is," she muttered.

Both men stared at her then looked at each other. "Wasn't the master looking at a clan with a bloodline that can do that?"

"I believe so."

"Change of plans then, you're coming with us," stated the masked man.

"I'd rather die," Eri retorted.

They snickered and came at her again, and this time Eri gave it all she had, but to her misfortune she had forgotten how much of her stamina her bloodline would take from her. She managed to stab the masked man in the heart, but he was unaffected by it as he grabbed her and threw her to the ground. Eri choked as the masked man pressed his foot into her throat. "You really know how to toy with your life span girl," he sneered. She tried to choke out a reply but to no avail, she was simply exhausted, her body was screaming in pain begging her to lie still but she kept trying to move. It can't end like this…

"Just give up and let our master take a look at you."

The only way Eri could reply was with a weak shake of her head, but then she felt cool air grace her stomach and strained to see what the other was doing, all see could see was the kunai then felt it pierce the skin of her belly. She tried to scream but it came out as a rush of air. "Then let's see if she heals from this," he commented as Eri felt her warm blood start to flow from the wound and follow the crud path he was etching into her torso. She suppressed the tears of pain and helplessness that were trying to form, if she could keep any dignity it would be to not let them know they had gotten to her. Summoning the last of the energy she had she tried to reach and grab the kunai but it feel short and fell on her hip. 'Someone… anyone…' she silently begged as she felt herself beginning to slip in and out of consciousness from blood loss, 'help me…'

Eri felt an odd tingling sensation on her hip, but she didn't pay it any mind until suddenly she heard something growling. The men got off her looking in the direction of the growling. "When the hell did those things get here?"

"Who cares just kill them!"

The Sincera couldn't process what happened after that. She could hear sounds of a fight, more growling, then men yelling, then complete silence…

Eri awoke with a start when water was splashed on her face. She said up ignoring her sore body and looked around in a panic; someone or something had moved her. She was next to a river lined with rocks, the sounds of the forest filled her ears again and when she glanced around the treetops she could still see the silhouette of the tower. Pain reminded her of the wound in her stomach, so she lifted her bloody shirt to check the damage, and saw that her wound was already healed into an angry looking red scar, she wasn't too surprised given her bloodline's healing abilities, but it was when she looked behind her that she had a real surprise.

A huge white wolf was lying only a few feet from her, its yellow eyes stared at her almost looking bored, it had old scars on his snout and over its left eye from what Eri could see. Its ears had perked up when it saw she regained consciousness, it also seemed that the wolf was missing half its right ear. "Well well, looks like the pup pulled through," it said in a mocking tone.

"The… fuck…?" Eri muttered, thinking she imagined it talking. The wolf got to its feet and stretched, then with a shake of its fur it walked over and sniffed her.

"Kenshin you should be a bit nicer to the girl, she had a bit of a brush with Death if you haven't noticed," came another voice. Eri looked from the male wolf to see another white wolf approach them. This one was slightly smaller than the first and Eri didn't see any scars on her. The first one sounded like he was chuckling.

"My apologies Kikki, I was simply making an observation," he replied looking at the other wolf.

"A-Are you two… seriously talking…?" Eri interrupted. Both wolves looked at her.

"Oh I'm sorry my lady, you must be very confused. You did lose a lot of blood," the one referred to as Kikki said.

"So are you talking or not?" Eri asked, having not picked up on Kikki's way of greeting her.

"Yes, you are not imagining that," Kikki replied sounding amused. Eri blinked at her.

"Wait… so these two guys were going to kill me… and two freaking huge talking wolves come out of nowhere and save me? Do I have that right?" she said sounding completely bemused.

"Basically," Kenshin yawned.

"So I am imagining this," Eri said lying back on the ground.

"I assure you my lady, we are not figments of your imagination," Kikki said lying next to her so she could feel her soft fur touching her skin.

"You said so yourself, I lost a lot of blood, and what's with this 'my lady' stuff?" Eri countered.

"Maybe we should explain ourselves then," Kikki replied.

"Don't bother; I have to get to the tower…" Eri stated before she took a deep breath and tried to get up, only to have her legs give out beneath her so she fell back down.

"You're not going anywhere in your condition," Kikki remarked, "At least not on your own."

"You don't understand! I have to get to the tower, my future depends on it!" Eri insisted trying to get up again. She heard what sounded like a sigh then Kikki was standing next to her.

"We know, we're offering our help. We'll get to the tower and explain ourselves along the way," Kikki replied.

"I donno…" Eri said leaning on her so she wouldn't fall again, "my parents told me never to go off with strangers… pretty sure strange talking animals fall under that same category…"

The male seemed to be chuckling again, "Oh you naïve pup, if it wasn't for your parents we wouldn't be here."

"You know my parents?" Eri asked.

"We do, now if you can manage to hold onto Kenshin he'll carry you to the tower as we explain ourselves," Kikki suggested.

"Since when am I a pony?" Kenshin demanded.

"Oh hush it won't kill you," Kikki countered sending the male a glare.

Eri let the wolves bicker as she took a deep breath and tried to stand on her own again. She wobbled a bit making her way to the river, almost like a toddler who had yet to master the act of walking. Once she got to the bank she got down on her knees and looked at herself in the water's surface. There were a few scuffs and cuts on her cheeks but nothing looked too bad, her reflection looked so tired and disgruntled though... She sighed and cupped some water in her hands to wash her face, then moved her body so she could use the water to wash away most of the dirt on her skinned knees and sore legs. After getting as much dirt as she could off her arms and hands she cupped the water again and drank some to quench her thirst. After finally obtaining some hydration and being able to cool her overheated body she felt she could focus more on the task ahead. Taking a rag out of her pack she wiped the excess water off her skin but when she put it back she felt her fingers brush against something unfamiliar. She pulled out a bundled up paper and opened it, in it was a few small pellets and a note from Yoichi.

'Dear sis,

I know the Anko chick told you only weapons but I decided to give you these food pellets since they can be used as a weapon in the right hands. Increasing stamina and all that right? Haha anyways this is more for my peace of mind cause who knows what they're making you do.

Good luck,

Your ever lovin big bro '

Eri blinked and took one of the pellets, "Yoichi you life saver…" she whispered as she crunched the pellet in her mouth. The food pellet wasn't very strong, nor did it taste good so she assumed Yoichi might have made them himself, but as the wolves resolved their bickering and come over to talk with the girl she felt her body recovering from the exhaust. Eri stood up and managed not to wobble as she turned to face them.

"So… what are we doing?" Eri asked.

"What I originally said, you'll ride on Kenshin and I can explain things along the way if you wish my lady," Kikki explained.

"Well lets go, we've wasted enough time, I have to be there before any of the contestants show up."

"You may be a bit late for that, but we'll do our best," Kikki said. Eri nodded and after a bit of difficulty she managed to get onto the male wolf. Taking a deep breath she held onto his fur and used her legs to grip onto his torso as the powerful body beneath her took a leap into the forest heading for the tower.

"So what do you need to explain to me?" Eri asked looking at Kikki as the female hurried alongside Kenshin.

"Well… this type of information should really be shared behind closed doors so to say, but I suppose I can give you a basic summary now and explain the details in a more private setting," Kikki thought out loud.

"Ok… so shot."

"The birthmark on your hip, where you ever curious of why it has such a defined shape? and have you noticed how your bloodline runs thick through your veins while with others of your clan, including your brother, the bloodline has grown weak?" Kikki asked.

"Yes," Eri replied, sounding very curious.

"They are related my lady, that birthmark is actually a summoning contract that is the result of the process that your mother went through while you were still in the womb. Our wolf clan has shared a bond with yours for almost as long as the Sincera clan existed, so when your father wanted to try a ritual that would re-strengthen the Sincera clan bloodline he asked us to attend the ritual so he could bond us to you for protection should your life be in danger and they weren't there to help, such as earlier," Kikki explained.

"Wait… My parents preformed some ritual on me before I was even born?" Eri asked completely off guard.

"Technically it was on your mother," Kenshin commented.

"That is the basic story yes," Kikki said ignoring Kenshin.

Eri stared at the wolf looking confused. "But my life had been in danger a couple of times, why didn't you show up until now?"

"You were never physically harmed; the first summoning was set to happen when your blood come in contact with the birthmark. But know that you know of us and you have a mature chakra network you can summon us to your aid by rubbing blood on your birthmark and sending chakra into it."

"So... I can summon you guys whenever I want?"

"Within reason, don't disturb us for anything stupid," Kenshin stated.

"I'll try not to," Eri replied looking ahead. Kenshin slowed down to a bit of a trot before stopping a few yards from the base of the tower. Eri got off the wolf and looked at her summons. "Thanks, I'd probably be dead without you guys."

"Probably?" Kenshin scoffed, but Kikki gave him a harsh nudge with her nose to stop him from continuing. They both disappeared as Eri searched around for the door that she was suppose to use. She eventually found a small single door that didn't have a seal on it; taking a deep breath she opened the door and walked into the tower.

Following a long hallway Eri found herself in a small circular room that seemed to be made of stone. But it was the person dressed in white with a red medical cross on the front of his outfit that caught her eye.

"Would you by chance be the Sincera girl we were told of?" he asked.

"Yes sir," Eri replied. The man looked over her appearance and frowned.

"We expected you a couple of hours ago, and look at yourself. Coming here in dirty, bloody clothes know you were going to heal the injured? Not in my medical ward you aren't, come with me," he demanded. Eri sighed and followed the man who was already reminding her of Kayo.

The man led her to a room that had a few other people in similar medical outfits. They seem to be relaxed for the most part. Eri hoped it was because she had beaten the contestants to the tower. Suddenly a white outfit was thrown at her and the man reemerged. "Change into that and get your hair out of your face." All Eri gave him was a curt nod and then left to find a room with some privacy.

Eri stood in the bathroom in the medical corps outfit. The torso felt uncomfortably tight on her chest and the sleeves were a bit past her fingers but other than that she had no complaints about it. She sighed and rolled the sleeves up a bit and then tried to comb her bangs into her ponytail, but they were very stubborn, as soon as she wrapped the band around her high ponytail they'd just fall back and frame her face again. Making a disgruntled noise she gave up with it and left hoping she looked presentable enough. When she came back to the room she saw another younger looking man waiting outside. She walked up to him to question him on the whereabouts of the hardass from earlier.

"Oh Tanku-san? He had other things he had to look over but he told me to follow you and judge your healing abilities," he replied blushing slightly. "Things are calm now cause we only have one team that made it now and they are unscratched, we'll be going and checking on each team as they come into the tower to make sure none of the members need any immediate medical attention, other than that things here are fairly simple, unless of course they had a preliminary round before they allow the contestants to move on to the third exam but that hasn't happened in about 5 years," He explained.

"What about the people that can't complete the second exam?" Eri asked.

"We do have scouts out in the forest, and even if they don't have their scrolls some teams come to the tower anyways for protection from the forest or for medical attention," the man said.

"Oh, I see why they wanted me to do this then…" Eri muttered. "But what about people who aren't found or don't make it to the tower?" she asked

"We presume them dead."


	7. Can Only Do So Much

Over the next couple of days things seemed relaxed; at times Eri wondered what was so challenging about this… A team would come in every few hours with a few scuffs and scratches at most so she would give them a check over to make sure there was no internal damage. There was a team from the Sound village were the tall boy needed medical attention to his arms. Eri managed to heal his broken shoulder blades and repair the tissue damage in his arms. Curiously enough there were tubes in his arms, but figuring it had to do with his jutsu Eri didn't question them. She then bandaged the arms and putting a sling around his neck so he could take the weight of his arms off his sore shoulders. She told him she had done all she could then told him to not move his arms more than necessary and keep them in the sling to aid the healing process. She left them without even receiving a thank you from the rude contestant, but she decided not to let it bother her.

Her supervisor, Jin, was a bit of a quiet fellow, unless Eri asked a question he rarely spoke. When Eri did ask him about something he would usually blush before replying which Eri found to be a bit odd. He would give her nods of approval and would watch her like a hawk when she was giving a contestant a look-over to make sure she was doing it correctly. So far she seemed to impress him, especially with how she handled the Sound ninja's injuries.

Within the final hour of the second exam coming to a close she walked out of the room where she had been spending her free time over the last couple of days. She was a bit surprised that she hadn't seen Anko or any of the other instructors for the exams but she hadn't really explored the tower in case another team came in. Again she had to look professional, medical ninjas don't go wondering off like a toddler, they stay put for when they are needed. As she walked she bumped into a familiar face.

"Iruka-sensei?" Eri asked looking at the Chunin with the scar across his nose and a high brown ponytail.

The man blinked and looked at her for a minute, "My god, Eri Sincera is that you?"

"Yes," she smiled, "It's nice seeing you again sensei"

"Well look at you, you're in the medical corps?" Iruka asked.

Eri shook her head, "No actually I'm here to kinda earn the title of Chunin by demonstrating my medical skills since I don't have a team or missions…" she admitted, "I only have the clothes since the head of the corps didn't like my old clothes."

"I was kind of wondering how that would work out for you when Kayo-san told me you wouldn't need to be put on a team…" Iruka said remembering back when the girl was one of his graduating students, "Well it was nice to see you again, I have to get going, say hello to your brother for me. Oh and if you can a team just arrived in the seventh room so if you can give them a look over that would be appreciated."

"Thanks Iruka-sensei and I will," Eri smiled then continued on her way to inspect the new comers.

Upon entering the room she was greeted with the sight of two more familiar faces, and one not so familiar. The first was a blonde boy she only knew through bumping into him at the ramen stand, Naruto Uzumaki was his name. He was a very hyper boy but seemed like a nice kid. Whenever she talked with him he was usually very upbeat but a bit of a loud mouth, her mother would say he never learned how to use an 'inside voice'. Eri's first memory of him was a bit funny…

She was about eleven years old and her brother was treating her to ramen after an afternoon training session. They were both chatting away when a little boy came into the stand and ordered some ramen as well. The siblings paid him no mind until Yoichi noticed he was eating his ramen… with a fork.

"Excuse me but don't you know how to use chopsticks?" Yoichi asked looking at the kid.

The blonde boy looked at him and frowned, "What's it to you what I eat with?"

"Because… ramen noodles deserve being honored with the mighty chopsticks of skill," Yoichi said twirling his set of chopsticks in his fingers.

"Who cares? They don't taste any different…"

Yoichi narrowed his eyes at the boy, "You… you disgrace the mighty ramen noodles with a mere fork!" he claimed pointing at the boy. Eri being use to her brother just sighed and continued eating her bowl. Yoichi made a scene of the smallest things…

"So? It's not like anybody cares what I do," young Naruto huffed.

"Fine little sassy pants," Yoichi countered stealing the boy's fork.

"Hey! Give that back!" Naruto yelled trying to reach for it, but Yoichi kept it out of his reach.

"Try… the… chop… sticks…" Yoichi insisted. Naruto huffed and took a pair from the cup of them and broke them apart. After seeing the boy struggle Yoichi softened a little.

"No one ever taught you? They are actually pretty simple…" he said.

"No! No one has! Now give me back my fork you ass!"

"How about I show you how to use them?" Yoichi suggested. The boy looked at him.

"And why would you do that?"

"Because… everyone should know how to use them," Yoichi said. The boy kept questioning Yoichi on his reasoning to care about such a simple little thing until Eri finally huffed.

"Look he's going to keep insisting till you let him show you, it's best to shut up and let him. Believe me I have to live with him," she said.

"Eri that was cruel…" Yoichi pouted.

"Whatever just do it then, I'm hungry," Naruto huffed. Yoichi smiled and showed him the proper way to hold the chopsticks in his own hand. After seeing Naruto struggle with it he only smiled and held the boys hand in the correct position. After his first slurp of ramen using the chopsticks Naruto smiled a bit. "It does… kinda taste better…" he admitted.

"There we go champ," Yoichi smiled patting his back, "Say you're a growing boy, I'll treat you to another one if you're still hungry after this."

"Seriously? Thanks mister!"

"Call me Yoichi, Yoichi Sincera, and that's my little sister Eri," Yoichi smiled pointed at her.

"I'm Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki," the boy grinned.

Eri smiled a bit seeing Naruto again; it had been a while since she had seen him. But she wasn't exactly thrilled seeing the raven haired lad that was in the group. Sasuke Uchiha… Eri had plenty of memories for this boy, hell she had known him since the day he was born, and none of the memories were exactly pleasant. Sasuke had always been a discourteous little boy to her. Once he threw a bowl of baby food at the girl and laughed when it got all over her. Eri tried dismissing it as him being a baby until the boy was older and was just plain rude to her and only her, then he would just completely ignore her if she was chatting with his older brother, Itachi. Even if he wasn't the one that killed his own clan, she still preferred Itachi to him. Itachi tried being civil around her at least. The third member of their group was a girl who Eri hadn't seen before, a pink haired girl with green eyes…

"Eri onee-chan!" Naruto called with a grin. Eri looked back at Naruto and offered a smile.

"Been a while hasn't it?" she asked.

"Not long enough…" Sasuke muttered. Eri rolled her eyes at the boy.

"Wait… you guys know this woman…?" the girl asked.

"I donno how Sasuke knows her, but I meet onee-chan at the Ichraku Ramen stand sometimes, she's really nice and her older brother is so cool!"

"You only say that because he likes to treat you," Eri laughed.

"So?" Naruto grinned, "So wait Sasuke how do you know her?" he asked turning to the other boy.

"Oh you can say our families were friends so we'd see each other," Eri said knowing Sasuke wouldn't tell them.

"You can say," Sasuke mumbled. Eri glanced at the girl and saw she was tensing a little. Did she think Eri was some sort of threat?

"Anyways I need to give you guys a quick check over to make sure you don't need any immediate medical attention before joining the others," the Sincera said to explain why she was there.

"Well I'm fine!" Naruto claimed.

"Of course you'll say that," Eri sighed, "I just need to see for myself alright?"

Naruto only shrugged so Eri came over and removed his headband, then pressed her palm to his forehead. Sending out her chakra she could feel that the boy was physically fine, but something she felt bothered her a bit. Could she be imagining him having two chakras? None the less she pulled her hand away and replaced his band. "You're fine."

"Like I told you," he chuckled.

Eri only shook her head slightly then turned her attention to the girl, "Your turn, come here."

The pink haired girl seemed hesitant but she walked over and still in front of the older girl. Eri pressed her palm to the girl's forehead and sent out her chakra again. "Nothing wrong," she commented, "just exhaustion."

"You can tell that just by touching my forehead?" she asked.

"Yup," Eri said turning to Sasuke.

"How?" the girl inquired.

"I send out my chakra into your body in pulses, I've been trained to feel any abnormalities in a person's physical being and in their chakra network by deciphering what my chakra pulses pick up on," Eri explained sounding bored, "You and Naruto have no abnormalities that I could sense so you're both fine as far as I can tell."

"Oh…"

"Your turn Sasuke," Eri said.

"You keep your hands to yourself," Sasuke replied. Eri frowned at him then saw a design on the back of his neck.

"Well that's a weird looking bruise," she commented. "How'd you get that?"

"None of your business," he retorted.

"Well I need to make sure you're alright," Eri countered reaching to get a better view of the mark but Sasuke slapped her hand away.

"I see you still have the need to poke your nose into other people's business," Sasuke muttered.

"I see you still have that stick up your ass," Eri countered ignoring the sting. Sasuke glared at her and looked away keeping his hand over the mark on her neck while Naruto laughed.

"She really told you Sasuke," he snickered. Eri only smirked slightly then looked at the pink haired girl who didn't look so pleased with her comment.

"Shut up Naruto!" she yelled at the laughing blonde then she looked at Eri with a slight glare. "I thought you were supposed to be helping us, not making Sasuke feel worse," she accused.

"Sorry but if he still has the strength to slap my hand, refuse treatment and on top of that make snide comments then he's going to live," Eri explained seeming a bit off that the girl took such offense to a little remark that wasn't even meant for her.

"Sasuke just let her see it!" Sakura insisted.

"That's not going to happen," Sasuke replied stubbornly.

Eri sighed, "Fine, I can't force you then… Guess I'll go make my report, you guys can leave for the arena where everyone is gathering just follow the hallway and it's through a huge set of double doors on your right, see ya," she said then left the team alone. It only took a few minutes before she heard the girl chasing her and calling her again. Already annoyed with her Eri stopped in her tracks "Look pinky I-" but when she turned to see the girl was fighting back tears she froze. Did she really make her cry?

"Pl-Please… Eri-san… Sasuke's hurt… that mark or bruise or whatever it is has been hurting him ever since he got it and I don't want him to suffer with it… Is there a way to get you to examine him…?" she begged.

Eri stared at the girl for a minute. "I-I'm sorry, but I probably know that boy better then you do. It will take nothing short of strapping him to a table for me to be able to examine him," she said, but seeing that wasn't comforting the girl she sighed. "But… I guess… I can… talk with the officials if that mark is such a concern…" she offered.

"You would?" she asked.

"Yeah…"

"Thank you!" she said letting her eyes clear of the tears that were threatening to fall.

"It's no problem… I guess," Eri muttered as the girl went back to her team. Once she turned to keep walking she bumped into a silver haired boy that looked about her age.

"Well hello maybe you can help us?" he said with a gentle smile. Eri only looked at him and who she guessed were his teammates since they all wore similar clothing, she hadn't seen them before.

"I might…"

"Where are the genin gathering? I'm afraid we're lost," he admitted.

"Um back where you came, there's a large double door on your right," Eri said, "Um were you checked by any of the medical corps?"

"Thank you and no we weren't, but thank you for your concern, you see I'm practiced in the medical arts myself so we are taken care of," he smiled.

"Al-Alright then…" Eri said blushing slightly. With a wave he followed his teammates back according to Eri's instructions. Sighing Eri made her way back to the medical corps room to see what else would be needed of her.

"Eri!"

The kunoichi turned to the purple haired woman that was calling her name, any greeting Eri would have come up with was caught in her throat once she saw how serious the special Jounin was. "Y-Yes Anko-san?" she asked worried she had made some sort of error.

"Did you treat a boy by the name of Uchiha Sasuke?" Anko demanded gripping the younger woman's shoulders.

"I-I took a look at him, b-but he refused to let me examine him" Eri replied nervous about Anko's apparent unease.

"Was there anything unusual about him? Did you see a mark on him when you saw him?" Anko asked quickly.

"H-He didn't let me examine him…" Eri repeated. Anko made a frustrated sigh and let the medical ninja go. "But he did have a strange mark near the back of his neck, when I tried to look at it he slapped my hand away and refused to let me take another glance…" Eri added.

"Can you describe it to me? Eri this is very important so please tell me what it looked like," the purple haired woman pleaded.

"Well…" Eri didn't know how she could describe it so she asked for a minute then glanced inside the closest room. Finding a pad of paper with a pencil she went back to Anko then used the best of her ability to do a quick sketch of the mark she had seen. Anko cursed under her breath seeing what the girl had drawn.

"He really did do it…" she muttered before she hurried off.

"Anko-san! What is it!" Eri called after her, but the elder kunoichi had already disappeared around a corner. Eri sighed to herself, worried she had blown her chances at being a Chunin by not examining the Uchiha boy. A hand gripped her shoulder and she looked to see Jin's serious demeanor. "I blew it didn't I?" she asked sounding crestfallen.

Jin blinked at her then shook his head. "It's nothing you would have known about," he replied.

"What's going on then?"

"That is classified, be on stand-by at the arena. It seems they are going through with the preliminaries so you'll be needed."

"The preliminaries?" Eri asked.

"You'll find out when you get there." And with that Jin left.

Confused by the change in the examiners Eri made her way to the arena in time for the Hokage to start addressing the candidates. Eri sighed and leaned against the wall as she listened to the speech through the creak in the door next to her. She blinked and looked at it when the talking has ceased and she heard someone coming towards the door. The silver haired boy from before came through the doors with an odd expression on his face, once he saw her though he smiled.

"Well hello there, didn't expect to see you again," he said.

"Well, same here," Eri replied blushing slightly. Kabuto gave her a look that seemed almost sweet. "Um so… why aren't you in there with the other Genin?"

"Oh that," Kabuto said sounding disinterested, "Well the preliminaries are a bit tough and I'm simply not at my best currently, so best be on the safe side."

"You gave up?" Eri stated.

Kabuto chuckled a bit, "You make it sound like it was a cowardly thing to do."

"Well…"

"Is it a wise chose to go running into a life and death battle when you're at a complete disadvantage?"

"I suppose that makes sense…"

Kabuto gave her another smile, "I'm glad you see things my way. Oh how rude of me, my name is Kabuto Yakushi. What might yours be?"

Eri blushed a bit deeper, "Oh I'm sorry it slipped my mind as well. My name is Eri, Eri Sincera."

"Eri Sincera? I see. Well I hope to be seeing you around, it's not often I see other talented medical ninja that are of my own age."

The comment made Eri blush again, "W-Well I didn't examine you or your comrades so I don't know how you can be calling me talented without seeing what I can do…"

Kabuto looked at her like he was amused. "I can sense the talent in you, though it would be nice to see what you can do. I must be going now, but again I hope to bump into you at another time," he said with a wave then went on his way down the hall.

"Same here…" Eri whispered as she watched him leave. With a blush Eri shook her head and smacked her cheeks a bit with the palms of her hands. "Keep it together Sincera, it was just some guy that happens to be nice and in the same profession as you," she muttered to herself realizing her conversation with Kabuto had distracted her from her assignment. She glanced into the room where all the Genin were and saw that the first battle must have begun since only Sasuke and one of Kabuto's companions were in the middle while everyone else were up on the second level observing the battle. Hearing footsteps she looked away and saw other medics had arrived so they could provide a quick response in case the battle got ugly and someone was in need of medical assistance.

A minute later Jin arrived so Eri walked over to him to further inquire on her duties involving the preliminaries. He explained that she would be responsible for being the first on the scene once the battle was declared over and then give orders to the other medics accordingly. After he finished explaining two medics went into the room with a stretcher, he looked at the medics then gave Eri a nod of dismissal. Eri nodded back then went into the room and went over to the body where the other medics were standing; it seemed that Kabuto's companion was the loser in this battle. After using her pulse technique Eri concluded his life was not in danger and was simply unconscious, the other medics nodded and took him away by stretcher. Eri glanced at Sasuke as another medic went to talk with him and a man with a mask and spiky silver hair. Eri faintly recognized the man since he seemed to be around her brother when she was younger. After insisting that he'd care for Sasuke the man glanced at her in mild interest then lead the boy though the doors. Sasuke seemed to have his hand over where she had seen the mark. Eri frowned a bit watching them go, what was up with that strange mark?

With the two competitors cleared of the arena Eri decided to leave so she wouldn't be in the way of the next battle, but she continued to wonder about what had to have happened, why was some strange bruise causing such a commotion? She was so lost in her own thoughts she didn't even noticed the familiar presence behind her until an arm wrapped around her neck and she felt pain in her scalp.

"Heya sis, how many ninja have you accidently killed so far?" Yoichi asked with a grin as he gave his beloved sister a noogie.

"Yoichi!" Eri protested trying to pull away from him. Yoichi chuckled and let Eri out of his grasp. Eri coughed a bit and rubbed her neck, "Jerk, what are you doing here?"

"Hmmm… I don't feel like telling you," he smiled poking her leaf-band.

"Why not?" Eri pouted.

"Cause you have stuff you need to do and I just came over to say hi," he said then he noticed how tired his sister looked, but his carefree grin never left his face, "Don't worry after the preliminaries everyone gets a month before the final exam so you'll get a break as well… maybe…"

"Maybe?" his sister asked.

"Only maybe," he repeated in a sing songy voice.

"Great…" Eri muttered. Yoichi smiled and messed with her hair.

"Hey just get through today alright? I'll see you at home I really gotta get going."

"What for?" she asked.

"Why? Do you want me to stick around?" Yoichi teased. Eri stared at him for a minute.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?"

Yoichi chuckled and nodded, "Good luck to you," he said before putting his hands in his pockets and walking off. Eri smiled a bit watching her elder brother walk off. Yoichi might be a pain in the ass, but he always means well. The declaration of another winner signaled the medic that it was time to go on and check on the loser of the battle.

The outcome of the next couple of battles was of no real interest to her. The sound ninja she had patched up prior to the preliminaries had been defeated in his battle, and then there was an exceedingly long battle between the pink haired girl from team 7 and some blonde girl. A young brunette in a pink shirt who had lost her battle did take some damage to her back and side but Eri was able to sort her out before the next battle came to a close, her patient was another girl who was from the sound village but she was only knocked out. Naruto gave her a grin as she picked up the puppy that had been fighting Naruto along with his master. Eri returned the grin and gave him a small thumbs up before she went with the other medics. Before she did a young girl possessing eyes that Eri had learned to associate with the Hyuuga clan came forth with a small container of healing ointment for her comrade. Eri was a bit touched that the girl had so much concern for her teammate so she took it and wished her luck for her exams, oddly the girl blushed and stammered before going back into the stands. Eri shrugged it off then went to take the pup to where they were helping the injured so she could return in time for the outcome of the next battle.

The next two battles made Eri realize that some of these Genin were not above killing an opponent. When she came in to assess the outcome of the battle she saw the shy girl from before sprawled out on her back and coughing up blood. Other medics followed her and Eri quickly used her pulse technique to see the cause of the younger girl's distress. Her heart sunk when she felt all the damage that was inside the Hyuuga. Not even taking time to take a breath she began using her healing chakra to stabilize the girl enough to move her while the other medics crowded around her. Then following her orders they quickly took her to the emergency room but Jin stopped Eri from following them.

"Jin what are you doing?" she demanded.

"Eri your place is first response and nothing more, she is in more experienced hands now so get back there and wait for the outcome of the next battles," he ordered. Eri was about to argue but Jin gave her a glare that made her stand in place. Who knew this guy who had originally blushed whenever he spoke could command with such authority? Unable to think of an argument Eri muttered an apology then returned to the arena. The next one to go through the doors on the stretcher was a young boy with a bowl cut. Eri was almost sickened with the amount of damage that was done to him; it was unlikely he would ever be able to continue being a shinobi. She stabilized the boy then called one of the medics over to tell them the severity of the injuries. The man nodded then called the boy's sensei over to talk to him. The final battle was nothing serious; the loser was just knocked out, though he mumbled about food on the way out… Funny though, it made Eri laugh a little…

It was enough to say that Eri was mentally and physically exhausted when she finally made it home early in the morning the following day. Not even wanting to make the trip up the stairs she collapsed on the sofa and fell into a dreamless sleep. It felt like only a few minutes later that someone was nudging her, when she opened her eyes she saw Yoichi looking at her with a soft smile. Eri's body ached as she slowly sat up and saw it was past noon. Yoichi told her the only reason he woke her up was so she could shower and put more comfortable clothes on to sleep in. When Eri looked herself over she realized she was still in the medical corps uniform that had some blood spattered on it. She managed to drag herself up to her room and wash off all the blood and dirt that had been clinging to her skin since she had started in the Forest of Death.

Feeling better now that she was clean Eri felt her mind starting to work again. Throwing on a t-shirt and lounge pants she flopped down on her bed as something began nagging at the back of her mind. It didn't matter that she still felt tired; her mind was nagging at her and keeping her from being able to drift off again. Sighing in annoyance Eri rolled onto her stomach as she tried to figure out why she was feeling uneasy with something. For some reason Kenshin and Kikki flashed through her subconscious… did it have something to do with them? Eri thought about her encounter with the wolves, they did bring to light why her bloodline was how it was… but what was this ritual they spoke of?

Huffing a bit Eri sat up and bit her thumb until it bled, it wouldn't hurt to ask right? Taking her bleeding thumb she pulled up her shirt and rubbed her birthmark. "Alright Kikki… lets see what you know…" she muttered thinking of the female as she sent chakra to her birthmark.

With a poof of smoke the wolf appeared next to her bed making Eri jump back in surprise. Kikki took up more room then Eri thought she would… not that Eri actually expected her to come.

"You summoned me my lady?" Kikki asked looking at the surprised girl. The bright yellow eyes that stood out from her white fur coat glittered in amusement seeing the medical ninja so shocked.

"I-I didn't expect it to work…" Eri said feeling the need to explain herself as she got off her bed.

"We told you what to and it seems you did as you were told, so why wouldn't it work?" Kikki asked. Eri blushed looking embarrassed.

"W-Well I just didn't know if I was doing it right!" she replied. Kikki seemed to chuckle a bit.

"So you only summoned me to see if you were able to summon correctly?" she asked.

"Not exactly…"

"Then tell me of how I can be of assistance."

"Tell me about the ritual, the one my parents did to restrengthen the Sincera bloodline in me, when… Mom was pregnant with me…"

Kikki stared at her for a minute before she replied, "I'm afraid I cannot…"

Eri looked at her a bit shocked, "But… why not?

"We are forbidden to talk of it," Kikki said as if she was stating a fact.

"But I'm your master; I can command you to tell me, right?"

Again with the wolfish chuckle. "My apologies my lady but the information you seek is something that shouldn't be known, your own father forbade us from ever telling you on the day of the ritual," Kikki explained.

"What does my father have to do with anything? I want to know so I order you to tell me Kikki," Eri demanded. The wolf's demeanor did not change.

"We are your summons, not your slaves dear girl; I suggest you learn that before you cause any friction between us. Now as I have said before, we are forbidden to speak of the ritual so unfortunately you will never learn the information you seek from me or Kenshin."

"Why is it forbidden?" Eri asked.

"Your father didn't want you to know I imagine," Kikki mused.

"What didn't he want me to know? Can you give me a hint? Anything?" Eri pleaded.

Kikki gazed that the girl still looking amused, "Very well, tell me what your feelings on riddles are?"

Eri looked at her looking slightly confused. "They're tricky I guess…"

"Well here is one for you, I'll only tell you it once so listen carefully."

Eri leaned in a bit, "Alright…"

"How can one bathe in one's own life blood… and live?"

With that Kikki disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving a bewildered Eri to ponder on her riddle.

[Wow another update in how long folks? _ and before any one asks 'where's tobi?' you can hopefully see that this is the longest chapter I've ever written so he WILL be in the next chapter just be patient with me guys ^_^ thanks for favoriteing this story and all the reviews~!]


	8. Beginning of the End

"I should really just learn how to cook…" The eldest Sincera mumbled to himself as he looked for something his younger sister could eat when she woke up. With a sigh Yoichi closed the cupboards and messed with his hair, he felt terrible for not being able to at least give Eri something good to eat after such an exhausting assignment. It's nothing short of a miracle that he was able to care for her when they were younger and Eri was still traumatized from losing their parents and siblings… Friends and neighbors pitied the orphaned siblings by offering food and help to which Yoichi had claimed to be too polite to refuse… In reality he knew he couldn't care for his sister by himself but he was too scared to admit it, even to himself, Eri needed him and they were the only family the other had. The memories of the months following the deaths of their parents and younger siblings darkened his mind.

He was away on a mission that horrid night. The mission itself was only to take a few hours, but they had been ambushed by some rogue ninja on the way back to the village. His sensei Madoka suggested the team lay low until sunset in case there were any more, but he had insisted they go straight to the village for he had a very unpleasant feeling stirring in his gut, but his sensei dismissed it and told them to rest. Unable to argue he did as he was told… and how he regretted that choice to this day.

The whole way back to the village he was urging his teammates to hurry up seeing that the feeling had not subsided. Finally when the village came into view he decided to risk a scolding from the Jounin and rushed ahead of the group. The feeling of dread kept intensifying as he broke away from his team and headed home, scared for not knowing what the cause of his own distress was. The moon was a crescent shape as it cast its glow over the genin's house. He stopped in front of his home and panted as he looked it over. Everything seemed normal… but the almost sickening feeling was not satisfied. Yoichi took a deep breath and hurried into the house.

The first thing he saw was blood splattered on the walls, his heart rose into his throat as his eyes widened. "Oh god…" he whispered, frozen with anticipation. What horror had he just stepped into?

It took him a minute before he was able to regain his senses. Taking a deep breath he finally mustered up the courage to venture into his own house. His breath quivered as the main hallway ended into another hallway, he breathed and pressed his back to the wall. He clenched his eyes shut then turned out into the hallway and opened his eyes to see a dark form hunched over.

"Dad…? Dad!" he called recognizing the figure and hurrying over. He lifted up his father's head so he could see his face, "Dad…?" he whispered. But he could see by the look in his father's remaining eye and the amount of blood on his father's clothes that he was dead. "Oh Dad…"

Yoichi heard a thump upstairs that nearly made him scream. With his heart hammering in his ears he swallowed a bit and stepped away from Makoto's body. He crept his way to the stairs and cautiously went up them on the lookout for whatever made that thump. Once at the top of the stairs he looked around and heard a creeping sound in Eri's room. "Oh no," he muttered. No longer caring that he was scared he hurried to his little sister's room, "Eri? Kai? Mom?" he called. But who he saw upon entering the room he saw a man he'd never seen before. His hair was a grayish red and he wore a black cloak with a hood to cover his broad shoulders. Upon hearing the boy enter the man turned to him, he had a scar going straight down the middle of his face that seemed to be closed up with staples. Yoichi's eyes widened as he panicked. "Wh-Who are you…? Wh-What have you done?"

The man only chuckled showing his yellow rotten teeth and Yoichi saw white hair slip from between the folds of the large dark bundle he picked up. He then forgot his fear and glared at that man, he recognized the white hair. His brotherly instincts took over and before Yoichi knew what he was doing the man was on the ground and the bundle was in his arms. He unfolded the bundle and saw his littler sister's unconscious face. Eri looked like she was sleeping, but with the head wound that was still trickling blood he feared the worst. Yoichi looked for the man again who was getting up, he was chuckling again.

"Overpowered by a little whelp fresh out of the academy? I must be getting old," he cackled, "Used up most of my chakra slaughtering those parents of yours…"

"Why did you do this?" Yoichi demanded putting Eri down safely behind him.

"I just do what I was hired to do… Didn't ask questions or nothing, told me I could do as I please if I kill the parents… Didn't mean to kill the two youngins, didn't shut up... kept crying and crying, had to shut them up, too frustrated, didn't notice it was too much force… could have gotten fine prices for both…" he rambled, "but that girl there…" he said pointing at Eri, "she'll still fetch a fine price on the black market, young, cute, and not to mention the Since-"

Completely enraged Yoichi had punched the man square in the face. "How dare you…!" he muttered angrily.

"Yoichi?" called the voice of his sensei Madoka. The man chuckled and got up holding his nose.

"I know when I'm beat, but be on the lookout boy, I may come back one day" he said before taking his leave through the window. Yoichi chased him and grabbed his cloak, but the ratty fabric tore only leaving Yoichi with a piece of it as the man disappeared into the night.

Yoichi just stared at the cloth in his hand as Madoka made her way up the stairs, "Yoichi?" she called again, but Yoichi couldn't muster up any words to say in reply. A minute later his brown haired sensei was in the door panting. She surveyed the scene and then focused her attention on her student. "What happened…?"

When Yoichi didn't move or answer her question she approached him. "Yoichi…?" she asked again. She steadily made her way to where the boy was kneeling on the floor then carefully put her hand on his shoulder. "Yoichi… what happened…?"

"… I-I… don't even… know…" Yoichi finally sobbed.

Madoka ushered Yoichi out and took him and Eri to the hospital, but he had struggled against the doctors when they had to separate him from his sister so they could treat her. Even when they reassured him she'd be fine he didn't want to lose sight of her, the doctors finally decided to tranquilize the boy so he didn't harm anyone or himself.

Days went by and Eri still hadn't woken up. Yoichi had remained by her side so she wouldn't be alone when she came to. He was just numb from the whole experience, their parents were dead… and the man's ranting about the 'youngins' was their younger siblings Kai and Kiyomi. Kai was a bright little boy nearing his fourth birthday, and Kiyomi was barely a year old. The man had choked them both to death after slaughtering their parents in cold blood; the police force found their mother's body in the kitchen, Kai's body was found in their parent's room along with their younger sister's. Yoichi still had trouble believing someone could be so heartless… yet the evidence was right in front of him, in the shambles that was once his life…

He barely ate unless someone was pushing food into his hands, sometimes it was the Uchiha family when they paid a visit but it was usually the nurses who had known his uncle Ichiro who had worked in the hospital before he died in an accident. He just couldn't stand seeing his little sister like this, she looked weak and sickly, and IV in her arm and hooked up to a respirator, faint bruises and cuts were on her arms and to top it off she had bandages around her head. The doctors didn't know when she'd wake up. Yoichi barely responded to the door opening behind him.

"How is she doing?" came the gentle voice of a woman.

"Still unresponsive…" he muttered. The woman came closer with her eldest son in tow. She had dark but gentle motherly eyes along with long dark hair that complimented her pale complexion. The boy next to her had dark hair and eyes as well and had his long hair tied back. He took a glance at Eri in pity but little more. His mother only nodded at Yoichi and put a bento box in his lap.

"Eat, I know it's hard but starving yourself won't help her," she soothed.

"Thanks Uchiha-san…" Yoichi replied.

"I've told you, you can call me Mikoto, Yoichi," replied the wife of Fugaku. He just shrugged and silently ate the contents of the box.

"I'll clean it and return it to you," he said completely ignoring Mikoto's statement. Mikoto only nodded and ushered Itachi to leave.

"Let us know if you need anything alright? And let us know when she wakes up," she said before she left.

Yoichi only nodded and looked back at Eri as he put the bento box aside. He took Eri's cold hand in his and rubbed it a bit, he didn't know how many times he had done it before but he thought he'd feel her respond to it. He took a deep breath and sighed. "Eri… I'm sorry," if only he could count the number of times he had apologized for not being there, "I'm sorry for not being there… Nii-san didn't protect you like he should have… But… I promise I'll do better… it's just you and me now… w-we gotta stick together… b-but you gotta wake up… just please…"

Yoichi felt her hand tremble a bit, he looked at her hand them looked at her face, her lips twitched and her body moved a bit. Yoichi felt a wave of relief wash over him as he watched her, she wasn't awake but it was at least a start. When a nurse came around he informed her of the movement and a few days later Eri had finally come back to the land of the living. Yoichi was filled with joy to have his younger sister back, but then he found out that Eri was mute and very skittish from what had happened to her.

Eri had been in the hospital for a month at this point. She would have been released two weeks prior but she had to be put under constant watch after a nurse found her trying to climb through the open window in a panic. Since Eri couldn't talk she couldn't explain herself, so the doctors decided to stay on the safe side and keep her for a bit more.

Yoichi was encouraging Eri to take her medication as he heard a knock on the door. After giving them permission to enter Yoichi looked over at the door to see Fugaku Uchiha along with his wife. "Hello Uchiha-san," he said in a slightly happier mood then he had been in recently.

"Hello Yoichi, how is she doing?" Mikoto asked walking over. Eri looked at the couple a bit unsure so she looked at elder brother instead.

"She's doing better, still not talking, and she's still having trouble eating and sleeping… but… she's better then she was," he replied, "She can be released in a couple of days."

"That's what we came here to talk about," Fugaku said. Mikoto looked at him and touched his arm.

"Maybe I should…"

"Fine."

"Yoichi?" Mikoto asked.

"What is it?" the twelve year old asked.

"About Eri being released…"

"They aren't keeping her longer are they?" Yoichi asked seeming to panic a bit.

"No, no, she's going to be released on time… but… about her coming home with you…"

"What about it?"

"Well…" Mikoto knew she'd be breaking the boy's heart but she felt it was the right thing to do, "Eri has a lot of needs right now and we just think you're a bit too young for the responsibility alone because of your… family situation… So we think she should stay with us…"

"I-I can take care of her, y-you guys don't have to…" Yoichi said moving a bit closer to his sister protectively.

"Yoichi think rationally, your sister is mute and traumatized. She just has too many needs for you to care for, the smart thing to do is to let us take care of her and you may visit her when you'd like," Fugaku interrupted.

Yoichi remembered protesting and then getting into an argument with Fugaku. Their heated voices had upset the seven year old, causing her to try and flee. Yoichi and Fugaku glared at each other then Yoichi went over to comfort his crying sister. Mikoto finally offered that Yoichi could take Eri home with him, but they'd be close by just in case Yoichi couldn't handle the responsibility alone. Yoichi thanked Mikoto for the chance and took Eri home when she was released from the hospital.

"Oi Nii-san?" came Eri's voice ripping Yoichi from his thoughts. Yoichi looked at his sister, now almost grown and had become quite independent. "You alright? You've been off in your own little world..."

"Oh uh… I-I'm fine… Should you be up already Eri?" Yoichi asked standing from the kitchen table.

"Well I've already slept most the day away so I'm fine, I was going to go out and get something to eat…" she replied.

"I was going to make you something…" he muttered cursing at himself for letting his mind wonder.

"Don't worry about it, I wanna go out and stretch my legs anyways," she said walking out of the kitchen, but then she seemed to think of something and stopped. "Yoichi…?"

"Yeah?"

"Did Mom… Did she seem different… when she was pregnant with me…?" she asked.

"No… why do you ask?" he questioned.

"…No reason… forget it," she replied before leaving.

Yoichi watched her go looking a bit curious, what an odd thing to ask…

Eri was silently criticizing herself as she walked on the street, of course Yoichi wouldn't know anything about the wolves or the ritual, he was only five when she was born… But she had no idea who to ask… Kikki said they'd never tell her… but who did that leave? Her parents were gone, her grandparents passed away before even Yoichi was born, her uncle had died a few months before her parents, and any other members of the Sincera clan were either dead or had moved on from the village after the her father was killed. Eri sighed and shook her head; it seemed to be futile to ever try to learn about the ritual unless the wolves broke their vow of silence to her father. Deciding to not think on an empty stomach Eri went to get herself some dango. The air was becoming cool as the sun set over the horizon and the street became quite as everyone headed home. Eating a stick of dango she wondered towards the trees to hear the sounds of the forest.

Meanwhile a certain masked man had decided to check on his little spy, of course he doubted she had remembered her true purpose yet, she had just recovered her memories of him. He silently wondered how she had handled whatever she was tasked to do for the Chunin Exams. He decided to locate her chakra, finding it to be close by in the forest he went to her, wondering what would come out of this meeting….

"Hey Tobi," Eri greeted him through a mouthful of dango.

"I'm glad you remembered me this time Eri-chan," Tobi commented coming closer to her.

"Course I do," she replied after she swallowed, "I only saw you a few days ago."

Tobi chuckled, "Well yeah true..."

"So what's up?" Eri asked casually.

"Nothing just checking on you as ordered," he replied.

"Ordered?" she responded looking completely bemused. The dango stick in her mouth drooped a bit and she looked at the man like he told her he thought the moon was made of cheese.

"Oh right you don't remember still..."

"Nope, just stuff about you strangely enough."

"You'll remember eventually Eri-chan."

"Hopefully," she echoed. Tobi chuckled.

"You will don't worry."

"Hey want a dango?" she offered. Tobi's mask turned to her.

"A dango?"

"Yeah, sweet balls on a stick?" she joked, "I feel bad eating them in front of you and not offering any."

"I'm alright," he replied waving away the offering.

"If you insist..." the snowy haired kuniochi stated eating the last stick. The masked man watched her in mild interest as she savored the sweet that put color in her cheeks.

"How did everything go?" he finally asked.

"Hm? Oh right the exams," she said finishing the dango.

"Yes those," Tobi replied.

"Well I lived, that's a start," Eri commented not seeming happy, "But I'm still in consideration..." The girl went on to tell him of her hike through the forest of death and then her trials at the preliminaries. She left out mentions of Kenshin and Kikki but mentioned the strange Genin that had pushed her limits.

"I mean most of these kids are like pre-teens and teenagers... I don't understand how some of them could be so bloodthirsty..." she muttered crossing her arms as she mentioned the more serious of fights in the preliminaries. Not being able to think of an answer befitting to Tobi's personality her companion only shrugged.

"You never know..." was all he thought to say.

"Well at least no one died... That's good right?" she said looking at him. But instead of an answer she only received silence. "Tobi?" she asked seeming a bit worried.

"I think someone is coming…" Tobi said as he sensed a presence coming to where the couple was chatting. Eri blinked and looked around seemingly confused.

"I don't sense anyone To-" but she was interrupted as Tobi put a finger to her lips, then as silent as the night around them Tobi disappeared. "Tobi…? Tobi?" Eri called sounding annoyed. As much as she liked Tobi, the more she was around him the more he seemed to be a piece of work. With a huff Eri crossed her arms and leaned against the tree behind her. "Fucking men…" she muttered but then she heard someone approach her, looking to the sound she saw a familiar pair of glasses.

"Ah Eri Sincera… just who I was looking for," Kabuto smiled while he walked over.

"Kabuto?" she questioned seeming surprised.

"Yes, I'm happy you remembered me," he said fixing his glasses.

"What do you want?" she asked sounding as curious as she looked.

"I've come to offer a proposition… on behalf of Lord Orochimaru," he said with a slight smirk. Every nerve in her body received a jolt at the snake master's name, something in her memory clicked and feelings of disgust and dread filled Eri's head. This Orochimaru must have a bad reputation.

Kabuto's expression lightened a bit seeing her reaction, "I take it you know of him?"

"Yes, I heard he was very bad news," she bluffed keeping her arms crossed sending him a glare.

"Now now, there are two sides to every story Eri," he said raising his hands in defense.

"I don't care, leave… now."

Instead of leaving, the light haired male only sighed, "I was hoping you'd listen to my offer freely, but oh well I guess you'd listen better restrained," he said fixing his glasses.

"Restrained? What are you-" but she stopped herself as she sensed the other presences around them, her eyes widened a bit but she forced herself to remain calm under the boy's watchful eyes, "Y-You brought friends…"

"Smart girl," he observed. With a hand signal three blurs came out kneeing behind Kabuto. "Meet some associates of mine; they will be helping me escort you to Lord Orochimaru, unharmed if you come willingly of course."

"I have no interest in whatever he's offering, I kindly suggest you take whatever proposition he has for me and shove it up your ass," Eri said getting off the tree and walking away feeling a major case of Déjà vu. Her attempted escape path was blocked by one of the people who was previously behind Kabuto. The moonlight hit her loose crimson hair in a way that reminded Eri of blood, the young Sincera looked away from her and took into the trees, determined to not be dragged away from her home village again.

"Well aren't you rude?" stated a husky voice. Suddenly one of the boys who was also behind Kabuto, his cropped light hair held a grey streak going down the middle as his dark eyes glared her down. His voice had held no amusement in the kunoichi's actions and his demeanor reflected his annoyance.

"I did say 'I kindly suggest'," she pointed out as she backed up. The ninja said nothing in reply and cast a flame jutsu to drive her back.

Eri backed up into the clearing and looked around. "I don't see why I'm so damn important," she called at Kabuto.

"Oh don't be so difficult Eri, we just want to talk," he replied, "Just hear me out."

"Then you and the goonies will take a hike?" she asked not seeming to believe him.

"It depends on your answer."

"What do you want?"

"Our information tells us your bloodline will be very useful to Lord Orochimaru, he would like your assistance in his experiments and as for me I'd like to be able to study your bloodline since the Sincera bloodline has thinned over the generations thus making you a very valuable subject," Kabuto explained, "Come willingly and we'll give you whatever you desire in return, we heard of the dreadful things that happened to your family and we can correct it for you if you wish, if not we can grant you power to seek justice for your clan. Again whatever you wish."

"...You have failed to interest me, so leave," Eri bluntly stated after a few minutes of silence. Kabuto looked at her seeming a bit confused.

"You must have not heard me correctly. We can bring your parents and siblings back to life, or you can take vengeance on who took them from you, why turn down this only chance to have what you desire?"

"Taking an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, my father crammed that saying to my head as long as I could remember. Besides... the party responsible is long gone" she mumbled as a bit of darkness called forth the memories, "Power does not tempt me."

"What of your family?"

"My brother is my family now, no one can call back the dead."

"Lord Orochimaru can."

"I don't believe it, just leave."

Kabuto only sighed, "Well... unfortunately... we aren't taking no for an answer. Lord Orochimaru was very insistent on the Sincera bloodline."

Eri only frowned and backed away a bit. The three ninja accompanying Kabuto reappeared and surrounded her. She braced herself for a fight as one of them conjured a whirlwind containing kunai and other weapons. As it surrounded the Sincera she took out her own kunai and managed to block the knifes and weapons the wind was spitting at her. When it ran out of weapons the wind roared around her with more force as it kicked up dust and she disappeared inside the controlled tornado. The woman smirked.

"Let's see how much fight she has when my cyclone vacuums the air from her lungs."

"Now now don't kill her, she'll be more useful alive," Kabuto stated fixing his glasses after the cyclone had gone on for a minute. The woman nodded and dismissed the cyclone, but as the dust cleared they were able to see where the girl was suppose to be they all looked around in shock. Eri had disappeared!

Kabuto frowned and tried to sense out her chakra, but the girl seemed to have vanished into thin air. "She couldn't have gotten far, find her," he ordered. The ninja left the silver haired boy alone as he tried to figure out how Eri escaped. "Well… Seems we've underestimated this girl…"


	9. The Final Exam

The next thing Eri knew she was in a different area of the forest, she become conscious of the fact she wasn't standing on her own two feet so she looked at the warm body that was pressed to hers. Eri's eyes went wide in surprise when she realized that Tobi was the one carrying her.

"You really suck at fighting don't you?" Tobi teased. Eri blushed deeply and looked away.

"I-I had it under control," she replied crossing her arms.

"So you planned on being cornered by those guys and then what? Get captured? Brilliant plan" he snickered. The girl's face reddened with embarrassment.

"I don't recall asking for help you ass! Why did you just disappear on me in the first place!" she demanded.

"Well we would have gotten in trouble if anyone saw us together, but if I let you get captured then Leader-sama would be really pissed off at Tobi, so Tobi did what he had to do!" he replied keeping his voice cheery.

"I should slap you! In fact I think I will, take that thing off," Eri remarked reaching up to take his mask. But before she could get a grip on it Tobi dropped her on her ass.

"No mask for you Eri-chan," he teased. Eri gave a small whine of pain rubbing her bruised bottom and gave Tobi a glare. "Oh scary Eri-chan is scary," Tobi laughed. Eri forced a deep breath to calm herself then got up and tackled the laughing man to the ground.

"Oh you are really asking for it…" she growled trying to take the man's mask again before he could recover, but his arm kept her from obtaining her prize. Even when she quickly reached with her other hand he managed to stop her with his free hand. Eri glared at him as he chuckled.

"Looks like you're more at my mercy eh Eri-chan?" he laughed.

"Let me go!" she demanded.

"Hmmm... no, Eri-chan has been a very very bad girl for trying to steal Tobi's mask," he snickered. Tobi flipped them so he was on top of the kunoichi and pinned her arms above her head. Eri aimed her knee right where it would hurt the man but he moved himself so he was sitting on her hips. After a minute of struggle she realized how futile it would be to try and escape, so she stopped and looked over her situation. A bright red blush graced her cheeks as she looked away.

"T-Tobi just let me go..." she said softly.

"No," he replied with a chuckle, she seemed so helpless.

"Please...?"

"Tobi said Eri was a bad girl," he replied.

"I'm sorry..." she pouted.

Sensing chakras coming closer Tobi only sighed and got up, "Only cause you asked so nicely Eri-chan," he teased.

Eri got to her feet blushing as she dust herself off, "J-Just go before someone sees you," she managed to say.

With a final chuckle Tobi gave her a gesture of good-bye before hurrying off. Taking a deep breath Eri looked towards the incoming figures. One familiar as the day but the other still slightly strange.

"Well there you are Eri," Yoichi called coming ahead of his companion. She smiled a bit.

"Hello Yoichi, Greetings um..." Eri blushed a bit embarrassed for forgetting the name of his companion, she had only met him once before.

"Setsu," the man repeated with a small smile.

"Right Setsu, sorry I'm never usually this bad with names..."

"All is forgiven," Setsu replied. His blue hair was tightly bound into a tight bun at the back of his head, his gold eyes had set Eri off a bit when they first met, they didn't seem very suited that that of a man, but she felt it wasn't her place to say. There was no threat behind the gold pools, if Eri had to put her finger on it, it would be a curiosity of the world that surrounded him. His tanned skin just completed his lean almost exotic appearance. The only thing that made her wary of this person was that no ninja band graced his forehead, nor anywhere else for that matter, but he seemed well trained at ninjutsu.

"Don't beat yourself up sis, you've only met Setsu once a couple of weeks ago. I'm surprised you recognized him at all after your long week," her brother intervened.

"I guess, still sorry."

The other man just closed his eyes and waved it off like it was nothing with a calm look on his face. "I said it was fine Eri-san."

"So... what are you guys up to?" she asked.

"Well truth be told I wasn't comfortable with you being out on your own, so I went to look for you, bumped into Setsu here and then yeah, went looking for you with him," the elder Sincera explained.

"You worry too much Yoichi," she said, but she had a small smile as she replied to her brother's worries. She noticed Setsu give her an odd look so she looked at the man. Setsu only blinked and kept giving her an unusual look that bordered on curious, his face blank but his golden eyes wide in inquisitiveness as they examined her every move. Feeling a bit uncomfortable she looked away. Setsu only titled his head a bit as he continued watching her. "Can I help you?" she asked.

"I'm fine," he replied never changing his expression, "It's just you tell him he worries too much, but you seem happy that he worries so much, it's a bit of a contradiction."

"It just means she knows I care for her cause she my little baby sister," Yoichi cooed hugging the girl. Eri only blushed and let him hug her.

"I'm not a baby Yoichi..."

Setsu only smiled at the siblings. "It's good that you both have someone, even if it's just each other."

"Yeah, now lets get you home," Yoichi smiled picking Eri up.

"Yoichi put me down I told you I'm fine!" Eri protested. "I slept most of the day today!"

"Nii-san knows best, amuse me and stay home for a day or two before pushing yourself again okay?" her brother replied taking her back to the village. Setsu only managed to hide a couple of chuckles as he followed the siblings back to their place.

When offered a place to stay the night Setsu politely refused and said he had to be on his way. Eri watched the man leave their home after bidding her and her brother farewell with a promise of returning and seeing them again. For some reason she could not be at ease around this man. There was something off about him, something she could not put her finger on.

The following month seemed to pass all too quickly for the young Sincera. Tobi had visited for the third time but she failed to recover anymore memories about him, which had started to nag at her. Yoichi eventually let up and stopped checking on her once he saw that she had completely recovered from her time in the 2nd exam, so most of the month she worked on her training. She knew she was required to be first response and nothing more but it didn't mean she couldn't try and work on her other skills.

She finally received her orders to be at arena first thing on the morning of the final exam. When the exam was about to begin she stood by the entrance, dressed in her medic uniform, to the place where the contestants where to fight, being first response of course she'd have to be near the action. Eri only sighed, crossed her arms and leaned on the wall as the Hokage addressed the audience. She noticed the absence of a certain Uchiha, though she was sure she wasn't the only one that noticed. Watching Naruto fight the Hyuga boy perked her interest a bit. She knew Naruto was a good kid, even though she didn't know him that well, so watching him confront who could be one of the best Konoha contestants in the exam with such determination, she couldn't help but smile a bit... She wasn't even that surprised when he claimed victory.

Striding over to where the Hyuga boy laid, Eri used her pulse technique to see if there was anything that needed to be tended to. Finding no internal damage she needed at the other medics who returned the gesture then transferred him to a stretcher to be taken inside to where the injured combatants were to be treated. Naruto shot her a grin like he did in the preliminaries when he passed her on the way inside of the stadium, Eri returned the smile and wished him luck for his upcoming matches.

The next match was not as much as an action packed thriller as the first, but it was quite interesting in the mind's prospective. A leaf ninja by the name of Shikamaru Nara basically played a mind game with a kunoichi from the village of the Sand. Shikamaru ended up forfeiting because he knew he wasn't going to win due to wasting his chakra distracting his opponent, but never the less it was interesting in its own way. As Naruto let his emotions get the best of him and ran to the Nara kid to tell him what for Eri started glancing around. On one hand she hoped the Uchiha boy didn't show because he was already being given special treatment by getting his match postponed when others would have been forfeited, on the other she wanted him to come to the arena and get swept out by the competition, thus putting him in his place. Not that it mattered that much to her, those where just her preferences. When attention was drawn to the whirlwind of leafs in the arena she saw that Sasuke Uchiha had indeed made it to the final exam... Maybe she can 'accidently' look over some internal damage if he lost. Eri didn't have many people that she had a true distaste for, but Sasuke was defiantly one of the people she'd prefer to be without.

Lost in her own thoughts she didn't realize that Shikamaru and Naruto had gone past her, but her thoughts snapped back to reality feeling a malevolence presence come up from behind her. The hair on the back of her neck stood as she hear the clacking of the person's sandals come closer and closer to her. Trying to keep control of herself she stayed to the side of the wall to avoid any contact with the red headed boy coming out to the arena. She risked a glace as he passed her, and felt a bit of relief that the boy hadn't even noticed her. His pale bloodthirsty eyes looked at Sasuke like he was sizing up his prey. Eri reconsidered not fully examining Sasuke if he lost this battle. Not even Sasuke deserved that.

Even watching the battle begin Eri still felt very uneasy, her body was still shaking. Was it still the aftereffects of the adrenaline that coursed through her body when the sand village boy passed her? Possibly, but something told her it was something else. She couldn't focus on the match and instead glanced around to see anything out of the ordinary. The match regained her attention when Sasuke's opponent began shouting about blood. Then everything seemed to spiral from there at a fast pace. Soon an explosion was heard outside of the stadium, then another heard where the Hokage was sitting with his guest, the Kazekage. The two other sand ninjas then came down to the battlefield along with what she assumed was their sensei. The exam proctor came down as well. Eri no longer felt it was her place to stay guard here and hurried up the stairs into the stadium to see what was going on.

On her way up she was attacked by two sound ninja, completely unarmed Eri was only able to defend herself. Before they could touch her they were both taken down by a large grey wolf similar to that of Kenshin's and Kikki's size. Next she saw her brother with the wolf attacking her attackers, she knew it was serious once she saw he was using their clans Hardening Blood technique. Yoichi had slit the back of his hands and allowed his blood to flow, the he had used his chakra to shape the flowing blood into a blade that extended beyond his knuckles. Using his wind chakra he hardened his blood and sharpened the weapon he created from his own body.

"Thank god you're alright," Yoichi said breathlessly after he had finished off the sound ninja.

"I-I'm fine thanks but what the hell is going on? and who is that?" she asked pointing at the wolf who was keeping look out for more enemies.

"Thats Miwa, she's my wolf summon. As for what's going on shit's hit the fan and the Sound and Sand are attacking us," Yoichi quickly explained handing Eri the ninja bag she had left at home. Miwa looked at the girl and bowed her head.

"It's unfortunate to meet under such circumstances," said the wolf.

"You never told me you had a wolf summon."

"You never told me you had two," Yoichi retorted. Eri frowned.

"Now is not the time for this, why are they attacking the Leaf?"

"Don't know, summon your wolves and prepare for a battle. I'll stick with you as long as I can, I went looking for you cause you probably had no clue what was happening."

Eri shook her head. "I can handle myself, I'll summon but you go and make sure all the civilians are evacuated."

Yoichi looked at her for a minute then reluctantly nodded, "You're right, promise me you'll be careful though alright?"

"Only if you promise the same Nii-san," Eri smirked. Yoichi only smiled and took the cap off her head. After kissing her forehead he handed her the leaf village band she had left with her ninja bag.

"You're a ninja so you better face the enemy looking like one," he said before taking off on Miwa's back. Eri tied her band on her forehead then shrugged the medic jacket off her form. In a plain black t-shirt and the white medic pants she tied on her pack and holster for her weapons. She then bite her thumb and summoned her wolves.

When she finally got to where the fighting was it was hell on earth. Leaf ninja were already down for the count and others were fighting multiple enemies at once.

"What should we do my Lady?" Kikki asked.

"H-How should I know?" Eri replied looking around.

"Well I'll tell you one thing pup, I'm going to go ahead and cut the enemy down to size," Kenshin stated giving what was perceived to be a smirk before heading off into the battle and closing his fangs on the nearest sound ninja he could get his claws on.

"Kenshin!" Eri yelled after him but Kikki stopped her.

"My lady it is what he is best at, you on the other hand should probably tend to the injured before they are beyond saving. We'll make a safe place below the stands and keep the injured there until other medics can assist."

Eri only nodded, "G-Good idea..."

With that Eri got onto the female wolf's back and headed into the battle as well to see who needed her help. As soon as she spotted a Konoha ninja bleeding and laying on his side she got down to his level and used her pulse technique to figure out his damage. He was worse off but could be moved, after providing quick first aid she put the dazed man on Kikki's back and quickly went for the closest stairs to under the stands. Finding an area where they would be out of the way Eri set the man on his back and cut her hand. She encouraged his mouth open so she could let her blood flow through his lips. Then she pressed her hands to his chest and used her chakra to manipulate her blood that was inside the man. The miracles that the Sincera blood could perform. The man's injuries quickly healed up and Eri could tell he was stable. Then quickly she and Kikki went to gather more of the injured and brought them back to stabilize them in the same area. It was difficult for some time and Eri was deathly afraid she'd lose one of her patients or that her makeshift area would be found by enemies and the people she had healed would be made for easy targets. She would have preferred to take the injured to the area with beds but the room was too far to make the trip. Time was a very important factor.

Upon another rush out to the battlefield the two witnessed a Konoha ninja at the mercy of his opponent. Eri quickly jumped off Kikki to let her gain speed to knock the Sound ninja off the man. Eri rolled a bit to slow her momentum then jumped back to her feet to rush to the man's side. He was gasping for air as blood seeped through his fingers as he grasped at a wound above his hip. The man glanced at her and tried to muster words of thanks but Eri make a motion for him to save his breath then pressed her hand to his forehead to see the damage.

"Alright this is going to hurt but I'm going to move you to a safe place so I can treat you, I'm going to ask you to bear with me," she explained using some healing chakra to stop his external bleeding. The man nodded and tried to assist Eri when she muscled him onto Kikki's back. Kikki glanced around and noticed some sound ninja had spotted them. Knowing if she moved she could cause more damage to the man she called Eri's attention to them.

"My Lady!"

"Got it!"

Thinking quickly Eri was on her feet and using her kunai to slice her knuckles. Taking Yoichi's lead she decided it was time to use her own version of their clan's hardening blood. She let the blood flow then used her chakra to shape them into spikes along her knuckles. Whirling towards the incoming enemies she infused the blood spikes with her wind natured chakra. One closest one was hit with the technique at full force, the wind chakra sharpened the blood spikes and cut into the man's skin causing a deep gash along his abdomen, the other had backed off in time just so only his clothes got slashed. As the first man fell clutching his stomach she knew he would bleed out in minutes so Eri focused on his already advancing companion and aimed higher, straining her chakra to make her technique reach further. Catching the man off guard she managed to slice his neck. It was then Eri felt pain in the hand that she strained her chakra with so she decided to retract the blood and heal the slices along her knuckles. She needed to preserve her energy and blood to heal her allies. She glanced at the fallen men and clutched her still twitching hand. "Might be a pain but it's always worth using my slicing punch," she smirked before returning to the task at hand.

Eventually Kenshin reappeared covered in blood and seeming very pleased with himself. Still angry he had abandoned them she made him stand and protect the area while she and Kikki gathered more of the injured. As enemy forces began to dwindle ninjas who knew they were too injured to continue fighting sought her out bringing with them their unconscious comrades. Seeing she had gathered all the injured allies in the arena and that she had other ninja who could help her protect the injured in case of enemies Eri called off Kikki and Kenshin so she could focus on healing her patients.

Eri couldn't count how many she had healed, she didn't need to give her blood to all of them... but she gave it to quite a few. She tried to not show her exhaustion to her conscious patients but she knew she couldn't keep this up much longer. Finally other medics and ninjas arrived at the scene, among them was Yoichi. Seeing her brother put her at ease. Yoichi saw how exhausted his sister was and how bloody her hands were, so he stole a nearby medic and brought him over to give Eri a look.

"Please tell me it's over," she said weakly. Yoichi only nodded and encouraged Eri to sit down and lean on him.

"You did good sis, how badly did you push yourself?" he asked.

"Pretty badly..." she confessed looking at his tired face. Eri looked confused when she saw the sorrow in his eyes. Yoichi looked at the medic who nodded and gave the younger Sincera a look-over.

"You're going to need blood and fluids," was all the medic said.

"Figured..." was her only reply, then Eri turned her attention back to her brother. "Yoichi what's wrong...?"

"It's the Hokage Eri... H-He's gone..."

Eri stared at him in disbelief while the medic returned with a packet of blood and a IV. "Y-You can't be serious..." she replied. Between the news and her sheer exhaustion Eri was so numb she didn't even feel the needles sliding into her flesh.


	10. Yoichi's past

Why did it feel like it was just yesterday when she passed out in her brother's arms at the arena? Why did it feel like only hours ago that she numbly attended the Third Hokage's funeral, still in a bit of disbelief that the old man was gone?

Eri withheld a sigh as she glanced around the Hokage's office. Everything was the same as the last time she was here waiting for the 3rd Hokage to pass his judgment, the only difference was the person in the seat deciding her fate.

"So... trained by old Kayo right out of the academy eh? You must have been something special..." Tsunade commented. Eri only blinked at the woman.

"I don't know about special but..." Eri tried to think of how to put it, "Kayo-sensei... defiantly strived for perfection..."

To her surprise Tsunade only laughed. "That sounds just like that crazy old bat."

Eri found herself laughing a bit, "My brother calls her a crazy old bat as well."

Tsunade gave her a bit of a smile then looked at the paperwork in front on her. "So, early medical training and your bloodline itself makes your reputation quite impressive for someone who's never been on a mission... Your supervisors for the exams gave you praise, only a couple of criticisms on following orders but I'll let that slide. Reports for when the Sound and Sand attacked is what really pleased me. You took to the situation and looked out for your fellow Leaf ninja, you more than likely prevented quite a few causalities according to witnesses. Using your summons was quite clever."

"I did what I could but I wish I did more, people still died, I was only able to cover the arena," Eri stated grimly.

"Still impressive considering your lack of experience in the battlefield," Tsunade replied.

"You're being too kind Lady Hokage."

Tsunade looked at the girl, "There were alot of Sincera healers back when I was last here. It's disappointing that there aren't more like you anymore. I always happened to like the Sincera clan... oh well..." The young kunoichi got uncomfortably quite, so Tsunade decided to continue talking. "Well for all it's worth I like you, you seem to have a lot going for you, having a healer like you in the higher ranks would defiantly help on the more dangerous missions"

Eri looked at the woman hopefully.

"But..."

With just that word her hope was dampened.

"I don't know how much the village has changed in terms of disciple and the like... And this is my field of expertise... so I'm going to offer you... not a deal... but more of a bet," Tsunade stated with a smirk.

"What is it Lady Hokage?" Eri asked.

"I want to see your skills first-hand. Both on the battle field and in medicine, impress me and I'll make you a chunin."

"How will I do that?" Eri asked, almost afraid of what the woman had in mind.

"Well, first you have to face me in a battle, then I have a very risky surgery to perform, assist me in the surgery and ensure it is a success," Tsunade offered.

"And if I succeed?" was the only question the younger could think of.

"You're a chunin, simple as that," the Hokage replied.

"Something tells me it's not as simple as it sounds," Eri sighed, she was certain she would be able to impress when it came to the surgery, she had her bloodline to thank for that, but the battlefield against one of the Sanin? She'll do horribly... "S-So... when do you wish to examine me?"

"Well I have a fair amount of research to do before performing the surgery, but on the other hand I can have you assist me with that as well... I'll give you a week to train and we'll meet so I can assess your battle skills. After that it depends on my thoughts on you."

Eri nodded and gave a swift bow before leaving the office. Only a week to train so she can go toe to toe with the Hokage? The young Sincera already knew she was going to have a long week consisting of worrying her brother and stressing her body to its limits.

Later on in that week Yoichi found himself watching his sister push herself yet again. He frowned concerned about how exhausted she was, why did she always insist on pushing herself? She could easily try again next time.

"I think you are a bit overprotective of your sister," Setsu thought out loud.

Yoichi looked at the blue haired man sitting next to him, he knew he worried too much, but he had good reason to. "I know, we've... just been through alot... I don't like seeing her push herself, she might get hurt."

"What happened?" Setsu asked, curious of the siblings' past. Yoichi never seemed to like talking about how he lost his parents and the years following it. But it seemed to weigh on his mind alot, especially when Eri was pushing herself like now.

"It's a long story Setsu, I don't really feel like talking about it..." the elder Sincera sighed. In truth Yoichi would love to tell Setsu everything, just get it all off his chest and see if there was something he could have done differently, something that would make everything better then it was. But he knew he'd end up bawling from letting out all the pent up stress, he couldn't do that in front of Setsu. He was his best friend and he thoroughly enjoyed it when he was in town, maybe he liked him more than just a friend. But he just... couldn't...

Setsu only nodded and stared at his friend, trying to think of how to express a motion of comfort to the other man. So when Yoichi went quiet and vacantly watched his little sister he let him be, he knew when the usually cheerful Yoichi would get into his depressed moods. Eventually it would end up with a few drinks at the bar to cheer the man up.

Yoichi's mind drifted to a couple of months after his little sister was brought home. He finally had a routine down for Eri, waking her up, taking care of her and trying to encourage her to do things herself again. She was such an independent child before all of this, it broke his heart every day when she couldn't utter a word and had to be helped with the simplest of tasks, he chose her clothes for her, helped her dress, bathed her, fed her and did everything else she needed. He was able to trust Mikoto Uchiha to look after her when he had to leave on a mission, Mikoto was wonderful to her, acting like the mother they had lost. Sometimes Yoichi wondered if he should've let Eri live with the Uchihas so she would take care of her, it would save him the tears he would always shed when he went into his darker moods, blaming himself for her trauma, seeing the once vibrant and healthy girl seem so sick and weak. He always managed to never cry in front of Eri, he let the tears go when he was alone in his room and she was asleep. But on the other hand, if he had let her go, he would have abandoned the only family he had, he didn't know which would be worse to live with.

When he wasn't caring for his sister he was trying to find the truth behind his family's murders. It couldn't have been something random, the man told him he was hired. But the question was who wanted his parents dead?

Eventually Yoichi learned it was not just his family that was targeted. Some of his father's most trusted advisors, friends and supporters and their families met similar fates. He was so wrapped up in his little sister he didn't even notice. Then another thought occurred to him, who was leading the clan? Another thing he noticed were members seemed to be disappearing overnight, the rumor was they were fleeing the Leaf village since his father's murder. Things didn't make sense, what was happening to his clan? Yoichi was the rightful heir, he should be leading the Sincera clan, but no one was telling him anything, it was as if he and Eri didn't exist.

Apparently someone had noticed his snooping around. Not that Yoichi thought to keep it quiet, he believed he had every right to know what was happening to his clan. He later learned the identity of the man who sent death to his front door, but it was after the man sent a warning to the boy. A warning that still terrifies Yoichi deep down, even though the danger had passed and he was no longer a threat.

He should have noticed that someone was keeping tabs on him throughout his venture of finding the truth. But at the time he didn't think that he or Eri were in any danger of their fellow clan members. Yoichi winced when he thought of the night that that his thought process was turned around.

It was a normal night, he had given Eri her medication and soothed her to sleep. Exhausted he went to his own bed and passed out when he hit the covers.

Later he woke out of his sleep with a start, something was wrong, his gut was churning the same way it did on the day his family died. As he woke himself and tried to figure out the source of his panic he got up and hurried to his sister's room. If she was asleep in bed as he left her then everything was fine.

But the girl was gone, the sheets where she slept weren't even chilled by the wind coming through the open window. He didn't open that window, it was locked from the inside when he went to sleep. His breath became shaky as he lived his nightmare. Someone had taken his little sister.

The Uchiha estate was the first place he could think of going. They had helped him care for her he knew they'd care enough to help him get her back. Fugaku was informed and in turn he informed the police. Yoichi remembered how grateful he was for their clan's alliance. This was before he knew of Fugaku's intention to keep the contract and force Yoichi's sister to be his daughter-in-law, later when he learned of the contract it made sense to why the Uchiha leader made it an upmost priority to regain Eri. He couldn't go losing his son's promised bride could he? Just the thought of it made Yoichi's teeth grind together, the thought that if the contract wasn't in place Fugaku probably would have shut the door in his face and not given a care to help him find his sister, or at least wouldn't have given it nearly as much effort as fast as he did.

Yoichi frantically searched for his sister inside the village as the police spread out their search. He remembered calling, running, searching and calling again, hoping for some sign she was near. He didn't notice someone following him until he was grabbed and pulled into a vacant house, or at least, he originally thought it was vacant. He was forced into the wall as he looked at this captor with angry tear stained eyes, "What do you think you're doing!?" he demanded.

"Silence boy, cooperate with me and you'll get your precious sister back."

The statement made Yoichi stop struggling and glare at the silver haired man in front of him, "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Cooperate and you get your little sister back, it's not really that hard." the man repeated. Yoichi stared at this man, he was of Sincera descent that was for sure, but he couldn't place him anywhere. It was weird, because he looked so familiar.

"YOU took her?" he screamed.

"It was under my orders, but I don't have her here. Do as I say and she'll be returned. If not... well poor girl who knows what she's in for," the man grinned.

Yoichi started struggling again, determined to rip the smile off the creep's face, "You give her back NOW, I have the Uchihas looking for her, they'll kill you for taking her!" he threatened.

"If I die your sister dies too," he replied, "Now stop struggling, don't you want to know how to get her back?"

What else could the young boy do but stop and listen? He had to get Eri back.

"Now, it's simple, I've been leading the clan for the past few months since your dear father's unfortunate death, but alas some of the counsel won't accept my leadership until you and your sister give up your birthright. Surrender it and I'll let you both live."

"Why didn't they come to me?" Yoichi demanded.

"Because me and my supporters convinced them you were currently too emotionally damaged to lead, not to mention too young. They've accepted my temporary leadership, but I would like it to be a little more... permanent."

"And you think you can threaten us to give it up?"

"I believe I can, you love your baby sister too much... oh wait... she wasn't the baby was she? Your youngest sister died," he mocked.

Consumed with rage that this man had practically admitted to being the one to arrange his family's murder, Yoichi gave a hard kick to the man, catching him by surprise, making him release the boy and fall to the floor. Yoichi then went to attack, but the man had other plans making his way out the window. A glare was cast at the boy. "That little brat of yours is as good as dead then!"

Yoichi went to pursue him but in the blink of an eye he was out of sight. He growled, hatred that he had never felt before was eating at him, the bastard GOT AWAY. He punched the building, fueled with so much rage he didn't feel the pain of breaking his knuckles. But then he realized something, "Oh god Eri," he whispered horrorstruck. It became all the more urgent to find her.

Dawn was beginning to break as Yoichi began losing hope he'd see his little sister alive again. He stopped running next to an alley and tried to catch his breath. Then something caught his eye, a lone figure in the alley. It was short, almost a child's height. Yoichi turned his focus to the figure and almost broke down on sight as he embraced his sister.

"Eri! Oh god Eri, are you ok?" he asked. When he didn't hear a reply he pulled back and looked at her. It was then he noticed she was covered in blood. Panic struck through his heart, was she hurt? Begging it not to be her blood Yoichi thoroughly checked her over, and found she was uninjured, with a sigh of relief he looked her in the eyes again. "Eri please, if you can talk tell me what happened."

"...Bad man," she managed to say in a small very childlike voice.

He stared at her in surprised, he honestly didn't expect an answer. "What bad man Eri?"

"...He's gone..."

"What bad man Eri? Can you describe him?"

"The bad man is gone Nii-san," Eri replied, her voice weak, barely a whisper.

"Eri where did he go?"

"The bad man is gone."

Yoichi kept trying to question her, but she kept repeating her statement, telling him the bad man was gone over and over like she was a toddler again. It was then Yoichi became scared for her. He couldn't let anyone see her covered in blood and repeating the same phrase over and over again like she was insane. They'd take her away and she'd be back in the hospital. Giving a big sigh Yoichi picked her up and took her home. He phoned Mikoto and told her he had found her, but refused to answer any of her questions afraid of what her reaction would be. He simply asked her to inform Fugaku that Eri was home safe.

Eri had gone quiet since he had gotten her home, for which Yoichi was grateful. He bathed her to wipe away the blood that was on her and threw out the clothes she was wearing. By the time Fugaku was there to question them Eri was sleeping in her bed once more.

"You know we can throw you in a cell for withholding information," Fugaku stated.

"I-It's the truth, I-I just found her, I guess the meds made her sleep walk or something..." he lied. How was he going to explain the Sincera he had encountered and Eri's state when he found her?

Fugaku looked closely at the sleeping girl, then sighed and left the room with Yoichi in tow. "If this happens again I'm reliving you of your responsibility," he said calmly.

"I-I understand... I'll be more careful..." Yoichi replied. Fugaku then gave him a look, like he knew the boy was lying, but it had been a long night and he was not in the mood to question him further.

"Well then, I'll be off," he stated before leaving the apartment. Yoichi locked the door behind him and went up to bed to get some rest, but as he entered his room he noticed something on his bed. A carefully folded note. With a sigh he opened the note and read the contents.

'You got off easy this time,

Next time you won't find her alive

Meet me and we can discuss the clan.

I don't think I need to mention that no one else should be informed of this meeting.

The former Sincera leader house, two days from now, at midnight.'

Yoichi remembered staring at the paper debating on what to do. But one thing was certain, he'd do anything to keep this from happening again. Eri's mental state was proven to be very fragile, he had to do what he could to keep her safe, but the question was, what would keep her safe?


	11. Eri vs Tsunade

"I don't think I can do this Tobi..."

"You'll be fine Eri-chan."

"I'll make a fool of myself," Eri huffed, "This is the fucking Hokage we're talking about, there no way in all the realms of hell I'll be able to beat her."

"Did she say you had to beat her?" Tobi asked, doing his best not to show he was getting a bit annoyed with Eri's lack of confidence.

"...No... I um... had to impress her..." she admitted.

"Well then!" Tobi said jumping up from his seat on the ground, "All you gotta do is impress her!"

"How can I impress her if I can't beat her?"

"You have to fight well," he teased.

Eri crossed her arms and frowned, it wasn't so much a lack of confidence, she saw her fighting skills as lower rank and believed it to be a fact. "I can't fight well... not well enough to impress her anyways, if it was only the surgery I'd be fine but fighting... Kayo wasn't able to train me much in that area..." Her old sensei Kayo was already on in years before she took the young Sincera under her wing, Kayo's main focus was Eri's healing bloodline, she only kept Eri in physical fitness for medical training, Kayo never even mentioned fighting.

"If you didn't have the potential we wouldn't have sought you out," Tobi said matter-of-factly.

Eri gave Tobi a strange look, but didn't seem to question his statement. Maybe the jutsu Sasori preformed on her was finally weaning enough to where she remembered most of what happened at the Akatsuki base.

"Do you remember more now?" he asked.

"Bits and pieces," she replied.

"Like?"

"You were around most of the time I was there... I was at a base... you're a member of a group... called..." Eri rubbed her forehead a bit, trying to remember the name.

"Akatsuki."

"Akatsuki?"

"Sounds familiar?"

"A bit..." Eri sighed, looking at Tobi again a question came to mind, one that she felt stupid for not thinking of before. "Is there a reason I can't remember anything? or a reason that everything is coming back to me so slowly? I highly doubt this is my own memory crapping out on me."

"Your memories were altered by another member, his name will come to you in time."

"Why?"

"That will come as well."

"Geez you're so helpful," she said sarcastically, "If you guys need me you're really scrapping the bottom of the barrel."

Tobi only chuckled, "Everything will come in time Eri-chan. Tobi will get in trouble if he tells you everything!"

"Mmhmm... I think you just like bein difficult" she accused. He only laughed in response, annoying the girl even more. "Well if you're done being helpful I have to figure out what I'm going to do."

"You're going to fight her, aren't you? or is Eri-chan scared of the big bad Hokage?" he teased her further.

"You're not funny Tobi!" Eri snapped.

"Eri-chan trust me, you'll do fine, the worst you can do is completely embarrass yourself in front of the Hokage." He just couldn't stop himself, that frowny face, that pouty lip, he found them quite... endearing.

Finally having enough with Tobi's attitude Eri turned her back to him, soon arms were around her and his mask was over her shoulder. "Come on Eri-chan you can't be mad at Tobi, he's just teasing."

"You've teased quite enough," she replied trying to force her way out of his grasp, but the more she struggled the more his grip tightened. "Tobi I'm fucking serious let go!"

He only chuckled in reply as he refused to grant her demand. "Come on you gotta lighten up, you're so grumpy Eri-chan, I think that's what I'll call you, grumpy old Eri-chan."

"Just please Tobi..."

"Please what?"

"Please let me go..." Eri sighed. Figuring she had enough he let her go, he had lingered too long anyways.

"Fine, Tobi has to go anyways, but Eri-chan I'm serious, you shouldn't back down, you won't get better if you keep selling yourself short."

"Alright fine... bye." she said. With that Tobi vanished only stirring the air that was around him. Eri then looked back at where Tobi was seeming to contemplate on his words, she heaved a sigh then looked at the setting sun before heading home, lost in her thoughts about what to do the next day.

Sooner than Eri would have liked she was in the middle of one of the many training fields within Konoha. Opposite of her was Tsunade, The Hokage, one of the Senin... and her opponent...

The woman's blonde pigtails danced in the wind behind her as Tsunade's pink glazed lips smirked at Eri's grim expression, "You're looking a bit nervous there, are you sure you want to do this?" she asked.

"No... I'm ready," Eri said after taking a deep breath.

"Well then, prepare yourself!" the blonde announced launching herself towards the girl.

With only a moment's notice the only thing Eri could think of was throwing her arms up in defense of her head as Tsunade made contact with her body, plowing her elbow into the younger woman's chest.

The Sincera gasped for air as the hit went right above her heart. She backed off and went to her knees taking deep breaths and holding the hit area. She looked up at Tsunade feeling humiliated that she managed to get a hit on her this quickly. That would not impress the Hokage in the slightest, and the proof was in the dissatisfaction Eri read on Tsunade's face.

Taking a deep breath Eri got back to her feet, she knew she could never defeat the woman in front of her, but she should be able to last long enough to impress her a bit. Her endurance training with Kayo and her mentality in the Forest of Death had to be applied here as well. She could already hear Kayo's insults if she failed to do the only other part of her training that didn't involve medical ninjutsu.

Tsunade went into for the attack again, this time Eri watched her body carefully then figured out what the older woman was up to. She was aiming for vital areas that would incapacitate Eri. Now that Eri knew where she was aiming she could protect herself much more successfully.

Blocking the Hokage's attack Eri then tries to counterattack but she was too slow, taking too much time to think of where her aim had a better chance of hitting. Tsunade's fist came out and aimed for the girl's face. Eri's heart hammered in her ears as she managed to block it, the women backed up, Eri still holding Tsunade's fist, the connected hands still shaking from the force put behind them.

Tsunade smiled, "For a second there you had me worried."

"I-I'm just warming up," Eri bluffed.

"Good, if you really are that old bat's student you should at least be able to outlast me," Tsunade smirked.

Eri didn't reply, but she felt her heart fall a bit, the blonde knew her ploy. The Sincera let go of the older woman's hand and they both backed off. Eri had to recalculated her strategy, even if it was outside her comfort zone. She'd have to go for a more frontal approach. What did she get herself into?

Before Tsunade approached her Eri made hand signs and her hands became engulfed with a blue chakra as the woman launched herself towards the younger again. Upon seeing her chakra clad hands Tsunade stopped before getting into Eri's reach.

"Chakra scalpel eh? Kayo really did teach you everything. But you have to be able to touch me to make it work," she smirked.

Eri bit her lip, of course Tsunade would know about the Chakra scalpel jutsu, the Sincera had hoped Tsunade would hit her again and Eri would be able to touch her and slice some of her muscles and tendons, would that have been impressive enough? The jutsu wasn't designed for offensive combat, but in defense combat it could be useful, but now that Tsunade knew was there a point in continuing it? If she just dissipated it when Tsunade called her out, would she look like a quitter? Weak-willed? or would continuing it make her look idiotic?

The younger woman let out a deep sigh and took a fighting stance, staring down the older woman. "Well I had hoped for an element of surprise but of course you'd know what I was using, it's medical ninjutsu after all."

Tsunade only smirked, "I'll give you points for creativity though."

Eri let herself smirk a bit with the praise and launched herself towards the Hokage. Tsunade backed away wary of the girl's hands as she went past her, Eri immediately turned and rounded on the older woman again brushing past her side as Tsunade dodged again. Eri slide a bit as she landed again, the amount of force she had been putting into her launches making it hard for her to slow down without falling. She made a mental note of it to herself as she turned to look at Tsunade again.

The Hokage was gripping her side as she looked at the younger kunoichi, Eri had obviously gotten a couple of muscles when she brushed past her. "Of course... You're an Sincera... You probably have wind element chakra and used it to extend the blades reach... Very impressive... That means we can get serious..."

Eri looked at her with wide eyes. Wait... they could get serious?

Tsunade smirked and punched the ground with enough force to shatter the dirt beneath her. Eri dashed back as far as she could to avoid being caught in the destruction.

This was it.

She was doomed.

That hit on Tsunade was a lucky shot and nothing more. Now she was going to be serious?

"Now let's have some fun."

Eri was tempted to say 'no let's not have some fun'. But of course that's the talk of a quitter, she couldn't do that.

"O-Okay..."

The fight commenced with Tsunade on the offensive and Eri doing her best to avoid her. She retracted the chakra scalpel finding it to be more of a waste of chakra then of assistance at this point.

Eri took out a kunai and sliced her knuckles letting her chakra shape the blood into four long spikes and her wind element sharpen them. She looked at Tsunade hoping she didn't know about this technique. Calculating where a open spot could be Eri knew she only had so long with the blood blade, so she decided to dive in and hope for the best.

Getting in close combat with the Tsunade was a mistake as soon as Eri tried to get close to her. The younger's fists began to tremble, signaling that the blood technique was starting to take its toll. Eri gritted her teeth as she did her best to avoid Tsunade's attacks, finally just lashing out and hoping she managed to get a strike, extending her wind chakra and blood in hopes of drawing some of Tsunade's. Out of sheer dumb luck she managed to get another hit on the older woman. Tsunade looked at her but Eri didn't linger to read the other's expression. Tsunade's hand came out quickly and hit the girl so hard she went through a tree and slammed her back into the one behind it. Eri gasped in sheer pain and looked at Tsunade as she advanced on her.

Using her slicing punch was a dumb idea, she concluded as she retraced the blood back into her body and healed the slices. Her hands trembled uncontrollably from the strain the technique placed on the body. She put herself back on the defensive, and Tsunade didn't seem like she was going to tire anytime soon as she attacked the girl again, and Eri barely managed to get away. Hardening her blood to use on the defensive Eri did her best to avoid and block the other woman's attacks.

With her still trembling hands Eri couldn't do hand signs successfully and using her blood was using her chakra, so as the battle raged on Eri was starting to exhaust herself, being reduced to dodging the older woman's attacks as she contemplated on what to do. She doubted she even had enough chakra to summon Kikki and Kenshin, though she doubted that Tsunade would approve of relying on them. Finally she thought of something, something to end the fight, and hope she didn't look like a quitter.

Tsunade's attack went over Eri's head as she went down on one knee and looked up at Tsunade. "I want to learn from you."

"Wha?"

"Lady Hokage I didn't bring it up before but my fighting skills are completely lacking, Kayo-san didn't think of teaching me to fight she focused on my healing blood. I think you've seen enough of how well I would do, especially against someone of your skills in the battlefield."

Lady Tsunade still seemed a bit dumbfounded but sighed and stood where she was. "So you think if you surrender in battle the enemy and they'll teach you?"

"Of course not."

"Then what are you playing?"

"I'm telling you the truth. I didn't want to fight with you because I knew I'd lose, I have very little experience with fighting. I was afraid of embarrassing myself."

"I gave you a chance to back down," the blonde pointed out.

"And what good would that have done for me?"

"Excuse me?"

"I was very tempted to give in and not show up... but I knew it wouldn't sit well with me, I knew I'd lose and not do well... I was afraid of how weak you'd take me for... but... fear is a funny thing... no matter the cause it always has the same nature... if you avoid it not only is it controlling you, but you are only prolonging your encounter with it... no matter how far down the road you'll always have to face them..."

"I still don't see why you're asking me to train you in the middle of a fight," Tsunade countered, but seemed to be interested in what Eri had to say.

"Just listen to me," Eri said as her blue eyes met with the older woman's hazel ones. "I want to be a better fighter, I know the pain of losing people you love because you weren't strong enough to save them. I can heal the injuries after the damage is done... but I want to keep the damage from happening in the first place. You understand that... don't you?"

The older woman looked at this girl for a minute. Yes, she could relate, but then the girl continued.

"I lost my family... I failed to protect my younger siblings, the mad man that killed them would've taken me away if my older brother didn't save me. Kai and Kiyomi..." It was the first time in years Eri had said the names of her younger siblings, she started to choke up a bit as tears streamed down her face from the hurtful truth, "Th-They died because of m-me, their blood in on my hands because I-I was a c-coward, because I-I couldn't protect them... And my parents trusted me to... and I f-failed... I-I don't want to fail another person... I want to be able to protect my teammates from harm, I want it to be so they don't need my b-blood, so they don't hurt... so that's why I'm before you now. I was uncertain of even coming here today but seeing your abilities and what you can do, it only encourages me to look up to you, that you earned the title of Hokage and you can teach me how to achieve what I'm looking for... Please Lady Hokage..."

Tsunade looked at the Sincera then sighed. "Rise."

Eri wiped her eyes and did as she was told. She looked at the woman before her, wondering what she was going to say.

"I do understand your pain, it took alot of strength to admit to your weakness, and it is admirable that you still took a chance. Your fighting skills are actually not too bad, they are decent enough for someone that hasn't been taught how to fight, so I'll consider it, but I already had someone in mind for my student. I want to see where your medical skills are though, so help me with the surgery then I'll make my decision," Tsunade explained.

"I understand," the young girl replied.

"Meet me at the hospital tomorrow no sooner than seven in the morning. We'll go from there understood?"

"Of course" Eri replied.

"Do you need my help, I did go a little hard."

"Oh," Eri blushed a bit, "Oh no no I don't need help, but thank you," she smiled

Tsunade smiled a bit, nodding at the girl she then turned from her and left the destroyed field. Eri took a deep breath and looked around, ignoring her aches and pains as she took in how powerful her opponent was, she ended up smiling a bit. That Tsunade was definitely worth her reputation.

"Well sounds like you did fine grumpy-chan," came a familiar voice.

Eri blinked and looked at the direction of the voice. "Tobi?"

She heard his chuckle as he came down from a near-by tree. Eri stared at him dumbfounded then she glared at him, how stupid was this guy? "Are you an idiot? The Hokage of all people was right here! What if she sensed you?"

"Well she didn't."

"What do you mean?" Eri demanded.

"Tobi was here the whole time, Neither Eri-chan or the Hokage knew he was here," he snickered.

Eri starred at him again. "H-How... how could she not know you were here...?"

"Tobi is very good at being sneaky."

"But... But she's Tsunade... The Tsunade... how...?" Eri was almost speechless, Tobi was there the whole time? How could the Hokage of all people not sense him? Giving up questioning it Eri sat down and carefully leaned back against a tree, she was sure she'd be all bruised up and sore tomorrow. "Never mind it's not like you'll tell me," she huffed.

Tobi only laughed. "Tobi just came by to see how Eri-chan did since she was so scare of the big bad Hokage."

"Have you seen the field we were in?" Eri asked sarcastically.

"You didn't do too bad, you just weren't too good either," Tobi snickered again. Eri sighed again, no longer able to just ignore the ached and pains, she slowly stood up.

"I'm really not in the mood Tobi, I'm tired."

"Well fine Grumpy-chan I'll see you later."

"Fine, whatever, see you later," Eri sighed before turning to leave, but when she took a step she stumbled, just barely managing not to fall. Since the adrenaline form the battle had worn off Eri's body was pleading for a rest, one that she intended to give it but she had to walk halfway across the village before she reached her house. She gave a sigh of exhaustion and annoyance. She'd just have to deal with it until she got home. She wished she hadn't turned down Tsunade's offer, but she didn't want to look anymore weak and beaten then she probably already did.

Tobi watched Eri struggle with her exhaustion and decided to be kind for once. He poked her back with the intention of giving her enough chakra to get home, forgetting it was badly hurt and sensitive from when Eri was slammed through a tree. Eri cried out in pain and rounded on Tobi.

"What's your fucking deal you asshole!" she demanded.

"S-Sorry that wasn't what T-Tobi meant to do," Tobi apologized.

"Then what did you mean to do? I'm exhausted I'm not in the mood for this shit." She cursed.

"This," Tobi said gently putting his hand on her shoulder. Eri stared at him until she felt a rush of chakra come from his hand and go through her body. Her kekkai genkai kicked in and her healing blood started going to work on her scrapes and cuts. Her breath didn't feel as labored as she looked at Tobi curiously. She felt her cheeks go hot as she looked at the swirly orange mask. Embarrassed Eri looked away.

"Th-Thank you..." she managed to say.

All she got was a chuckle then his hand left her shoulder. Eri looked at him in time to see him turn from her and walk away. Still blushing Eri walked away towards her home, not knowing what to make of the masked man.

The following morning came and Eri was at the hospital at the time Tsunade had requested. She yawned and looked around for the other woman wondering what kind of surgery she'd be assisting in. Her body was still sore but she was better off then she would have been if Tobi hadn't assisted her. Eri thought about the masked man, he certainly was a strange one, but there was something she liked about him.

Soon Tsunade came by and motioned for Eri to follow her. She noticed the other woman with Tsunade, a slender woman with shoulder length black hair. The other woman noticed Eri's curious stare as they followed Tsunade. She smiled politely, "I'm Shizune, I'm sorry we didn't meet before, but Lady Tsunade has told me alot about you. You're Eri correct?"

"Yes I am, nice to meet you," Eri replied as she returned the polite smile.

"Nice to meet you as well."

"Now what am I doing here if you're here as well?" the snowy haired girl asked.

"Oh I'm only here as back up, Lady Tsunade said she'd mainly be relying on you to see your skills but I'll be here just in case," Shizune replied.

"I see how much confidence she has in me," Eri commented.

"No offense Eri but I know Shizune's abilities and I don't know yours, so if you fall short she can step in," Tsunade interrupted.

"Oh..." Eri replied, a bit embarrassed.

"Lets just get this over with." Tsunade said leading the women through some double doors. Eri took a deep breath as she followed the woman and listened to her instructions.

The hours in the surgery room were some of the most stressful Eri could remember. They were operating on the same boy Eri had seen take such terrible injuries in the Chunin exams. The very one she doubted could ever be a shinobi again. Tsunade was going to try and fix his back so he could begin healing. Eri respected the woman even more then she had before for caring so deeply about one of her shinobi.

Throughout the surgery Eri had to keep the boy stable, using her chakra and blood techniques to keep him going. It seemed close and Eri was nervous about how well he'd do. But eventually Tsunade backed off and said she did the best she should do. She then looked at Eri and thanked her for her services.

After they had left the room and left the boy in the care of the other doctors Tsunade turned and looked at Eri. "I honestly don't think I can take you for my student."

"What? But why?" Eri asked looking stunned. Surely she had to have done well in the surgery... right?

Tsunade looked at her and smiled softly, "because you have a very good grasp of medical ninjutsu, I don't think you need to be taught anymore on it, the rest you figure out on your own so you can grow and develop your own techniques. You need someone who can teach you to fight since you wish to protect your teammates and I could teach you that but I think a different teacher is in order that can train with you full time. My duties as a Hokage will interfere with that. I need to scout out a more suited teacher for you. Meet me at my office in a week alright?"

Eri looked at her but managed to nod. "O-Ok... S-So... I'm a Chunin then?"

Tsunade nodded, "Yes, but then again I wouldn't expect anything less than a student of Kayo, or then again someone who was able to handle her training." With that Tsunade dismissed her then she and Shizune took their leave. Eri watched them go, wondering who Tsunade would find suited to her needs. Then she smiled and hurried home to tell her brother of the news.

A week had passed and Eri was once again outside the Hokage's office at the time she was summoned. Taking a deep breath Eri opened the door and stepped into the office closing the door behind her, she looked at Tsunade, then she took a glance next to her to see a woman with purple hair grinning at her.

Oh Hell No...

"Eri just in time, I believe this woman here will suit your needs quite well, may I introduce Anko Mitarashi."

"We already know each other Hokage-san, but thank you for the... opportunity. I'm sure she'll be a fine student," Anko grinned.

The white haired girl stood there dumbfounded, Anko... of all the Jonin in the village she had to choose Anko...

"I told you Eri-chan... We were gonna have alot of fun if you survived the Chunin Exams," the purple haired woman purred.


End file.
